As a fan of films about pandemics and apocalypses, I never thought we’d experience one. When lockdown started in March 2020 our new company was less than 6 months old and I remember wondering whether all that pandemic fiction would actually help. I think it did a bit! Here’s our story.
Having been in the serviced apartment sector throughout the financial crash which began in 2008, we felt that there’d still be demand for temporary accommodation but that we’d need to adapt, so that’s what we set out to do on day 1, the 24th March. The first thing we did was to buy cleaning packs for every apartment so that guests could clean their own apartments, and then we ordered extra sets of bed linen and towels.
We were all told to stay at home and work from home so we decided to add the following features to all apartments to make lockdown and wfh more bearable and comfortable:
Coffee machines, Bluetooth speakers, larger 49’ TVs (adding the older, smaller TVs to bedrooms), faster Wifi, paintings, soap dispensers for every sink and of course hand sanitiser. Then as the weather improved we added more fans and also balcony furniture. It wasn’t easy but we were eventually able to buy enough desks and chairs to equip every apartment with at least one separate office desk and chair, with spares for those needing more.
When we went through quieter periods we changed locks, decorated, refurbished, added sofa-beds and replaced carpets.
These are the four things we’re most proud of:
- We accommodated NHS and other key workers and did whatever we could for them
- Our average occupancy for 2020 was 88%
- We increased our portfolio by 66%
- We maintained our commitment to reducing waste and single-use plastics
On the last point it’s worth adding that we installed refillable soap, shower gel and hand sanitiser dispensers to drastically reduce our wasteful disposure of plastics (we do of course sanitise the dispensers).
There were two more things that we felt we had to do to help our guests adapt. Firstly we significantly improved our welcome packs. Some people are understandably wary of supermarkets but as a result, getting a delivery slot can take days so we now offer a bespoke service so that we provide food items on arrival to keep guests going for the first few days of their stay. This is in addition to the standard Welcome Pack which includes ground coffee, tea, fresh orange juice, organic milk, biscuits and fresh fruit.
Also as viewings can no longer be conducted we’ve produced video tours of all of our apartments. It’s true that they’re not done using a professional but they’re 4k and they show prospective guests a full tour of the actual apartment they’re interested in.
The pandemic’s made us work harder, sanitise more, and adapt faster. It’s made us invest heavily to make our apartments better equipped and more comfortable. Most importantly we’ve focused more than ever on the guest experience, which has to be what it’s all about.
