Corporate apartments are housing solutions that are owned or leased by businesses. Companies may use these types of living facilities for a number of reasons, ranging from providing temporary housing for employees transferring to a new location within the company structure to making sure that out-of-town clients have a comfortable place to stay while visiting the area. Some companies will also make use of corporate apartments to house salespeople and other employees who may be in town for week or more to manage the implementation of an account with a new customer or assist an existing customer with a project that requires customized attention.
One of the more common uses of corporate apartments is to provide cost-effective living arrangements when officers, owners, or other representatives of a company frequently travel to a given area on business. For example, if a legal firm based in the United States is performing ongoing work for a client that requires frequent stays in the United Kingdom, the firm may choose to secure an apartment that allows any of the attorneys or any independent contractors hired by the firm to use the apartment during their stay in the country. It is not unusual for media companies to use the approach of maintaining corporate apartments in key cities around the world that provide available housing for journalists or other media professionals when their duties take them to that particular area.
While long-term leasing of corporate apartments is often less expensive than hotels or other options for lodging, this type of arrangement can also be effective for short-term housing as well. For example, if a salesperson is sent to a specific metropolitan area to establish a customer base in the area, and has a limited amount of time to complete the effort, the employer may lease a corporate apartment rather than have the salesperson stay in a hotel. There are a number of hotel chains that now operate what is known as extended stay facilities. These often include low-cost corporate apartments with fully functional kitchens that are considerably less than standard hotel accommodations and can be reserved for anywhere from one week to several months.
A third common use for corporate apartments is to provide housing for out-of-town business clients. In this scenario, a business leases an apartment that clients are able to enjoy when visiting the corporate headquarters of the provider or supplier. Providing an additional benefit of this type can often help to increase rapport with customers, since the amenity of the apartment means that the client does not have to absorb the expense of a hotel and can forego the necessity of booking some sort of living accommodations for the trip.
