Temporary Apartments Top Hotels for Near-Term Accommodations

Corporate travelers and newcomers to Houston often seek temporary living arrangements until they move on or find a permanent home. Hotels can provide convenient short-term accommodations, but they can’t beat executive apartments in Houston for quality of life. Temporary, upscale apartments provide a host of amenities and lifestyle benefits that busy hotels just can’t offer. Business travelers and transplants alike should consider temporary apartments when their travels bring them to Houston.

Companies are relocating more employees for temporary assignments than ever before, as big corporations try to make their workforces more flexible and responsive to company needs. Big companies and the military also continue to relocate employees for longer-term assignments, and many workers relocate on their own for new jobs. When employees move, their employers often help them out with living arrangements until those employees find a more permanent residence.

Temporary apartments or corporate housing provides furnished living spaces for guests on a short-to-medium-term basis. Leases are usually very flexible, and many companies have blocks of temporary apartments reserved for their employees. This form of accommodation provides many advantages over another option for short-to-medium-term residency, extended stay hotels, including:

• Cost – Temporary apartments offer a more cost-effective solution to businesses and individuals seeking short-to-medium-term accommodation. According to USA Today, the average daily rate for corporate housing in 2016 was $150. Hotels can be cheaper, but hotels that offer the same level of amenities as a temporary apartment can easily cost more than $200 per day, particularly in large cities like Houston.
• Larger size – Executive apartments in Houston are typically significantly larger than even premium extended stay hotel rooms. On average, a hotel room provides about 350 sq. ft. of space. A temporary apartment provides about 750 sq. ft., on average.

Corporate housing may have multiple bedrooms, an office area, and kitchen and dining facilities. While some hotel rooms may have small kitchens, they typically are much smaller than those offered by temporary apartments.

For recently relocated employees or employees on temporary assignment who have brought furniture, clothing, knick-knacks, and other must-haves, temporary apartments provide the space needed so they can truly feel like they’re at home, even if it’s just for a few months.

• Customized upgrades – In many cases, temporary apartments can offer upgrade packages that allow you to customize your experience. Unlike hotels, which often offer a one-size-fits-all approach to offering luxuries, temporary apartments provide guests the freedom to choose the extras they’d like to receive.
• Healthier eating – Having a real kitchen can do real wonders for your diet. Workers who frequently travel or who stay in short-term housing often eat out in restaurants, where calories and carbs abound. Having a fridge, an oven, and other kitchen amenities allows guests to prepare their own, healthier meals and resist the temptation to wolf down steaks at a hotel dining facility or live off of vending machine fare. Preparing your own food is also often less expensive than dining out—another key benefit.

• Great furniture – Furniture in extended stay hotels can sometimes be … less than desirable. Furnished apartments typically use quality furniture made by respected manufacturers. This helps make the apartment feel more homelike, enhancing guests’ enjoyment of the facility. Better quality furniture also makes entertaining guests easier, as well.
• Laundry – Most temporary apartments will have a washer and a dryer in the apartment. Hotels typically have laundromat-style facilities if they have laundry facilities at all. Being able to wash and dry your clothes where you’re staying saves time and aggravation for busy professionals.
• Parking – Parking can come at a premium, especially in large cities like Houston. Temporary apartments typically offer their residents more convenient and accessible parking than extended-stay hotels. This allows guest to more quickly and easily get to work or wherever they need to go.
• Better locations – Hotels are often located in shopping areas or busy downtown locations. That’s great if you’re just in town for a few days for a conference or a training session but, over an extended stay, all of that hustle and bustle near your temporary home can be annoying. Temporary apartments and corporate suites in Houston are located in quiet, residential areas. They’re convenient to shopping and business districts, but not in the thick of high-traffic areas.

The more upscale neighborhoods furnished corporate housing options are typically located in also provide a key advantage to families, as they have access to better school districts. Extended-stay hotels are often located in areas with less desirable public school options than temporary apartments. Having access to good schools is important to families, which is why many companies seeking to recruit good talent strive to find corporate housing in top local school districts.

• Amenities – Many temporary furnished apartments in Houston, particularly those targeted at executive clients, offer a wide variety of amenities on-site. Temporary apartments can offer gym facilities, maid service, and on-site maintenance and management, etc. Some even offer personal trainers as part of their services. Hotels also offer amenities, but temporary apartments often have more spacious gym and related facilities.
• Disaster relief – Recent storms like Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma have displaced thousands of people from their homes. For storm evacuees, temporary apartments can often provide a better option than extended stay hotels. The homelike atmosphere and larger area of furnished apartments provide a needed sense of stability to people displaced from their homes. That stability is needed as evacuees work on filing insurance claims, starting repair work on their homes, returning to their jobs, and the other tasks involved in rebuilding their lives after a natural disaster.

Retaining Employees

Relocations for temporary assignments, new jobs, disaster situations, and other life events happen a lot more often than many people realize. According to Urbanbound, 38 percent of companies with 5,000 employees or more relocated 400 or more of their employees in 2015. Of the companies surveyed, 26 percent relocated at least some of their employees, and just 3 percent relocated no employees.

Providing employees who are on temporary assignment or who have been transferred with agreeable temporary accommodations is important to retaining quality employees. Urbanbound’s study found that 41 percent of employees who declined relocation did so because they had no desire to relocate, while 32 percent declined because of housing or mortgage concerns.

Making sure employees have a comfortable place to live when they’re transferred will help keep them happy in their new positions. Providing temporary assignment employees with a spacious, home-like atmosphere will also help them keep from feeling burned out from travel.

More and more businesses and individuals are realizing the advantages of temporary apartments over-extended stay hotels. Corporate housing industry revenues have enjoyed steady growth in recent years, according to the Corporate Housing Providers Association. In 2015, revenue generated by corporate housing hit $2.93 billion—a 7 percent increase over 2014. In 2009, revenues were at $2.36 billion.  The average stay in these facilities is around 84 nights, but there are a significant number of temporary apartments—about 13 percent—that stay occupied for a year or longer.

Corporate Retreats International helps people in the Houston area find temporary living arrangements tailored to their needs and lifestyle. Founded in 1998, the company has grown from a single furnished apartment to many apartment buildings throughout Houston. Corporate Retreats International can provide accommodations for guests staying from three months to an indeterminate amount of time.

With easy terms and facilities in some of the most appealing areas of Houston, Corporate Retreats International offers the best in local corporate housing and temporary apartment facilities.