Serviced apartments: the new trend taking over Europe

Matteo Ghedini talks about the emerging trend of ‘serviced apartments’ compared to traditional hospitality

June 13, 2019Real Estate
With the world of real estate and more specifically hospitality entering a new age of technological advancement and millennial needs, many companies are playing catch-up with the wants and needs of their consumers. Matteo Ghedini, founder and CEO of Brera Serviced Apartments as well as a member of GRI Club, talked to us about the excitement and dangers of such a quickly changing field. 

The concept of serviced apartments was essentially unheard of in Central Europe, and a market for it developed as a middle ground between the convenience of a hotel and the comfort of a private apartment. A new concept, the demand for this came from many modern factors, such as affordable and available travel such as Uber paired with rising hotel tariffs. This can also be seen in the new wave of millennial needs, such as student accommodation and always remaining connected. A modern company ambitiously keeping up with quickly developing norms can be chaotic but ultimately very rewarding.

As Matteo explains ‘The most fascinating aspect of working in the alternative hospitality real estate industry is the opportunity to modernise real estate sectors and make them fit for the new trends and customer needs. ‘For example,’ he goes on to say, ‘we act as a bridge between the real estate owner, who needs to have a long term tenant and a stable cash flow, and the needs of the guests, who need flexibility, modern space and a product that is easily accessible.’

So what really drives these deals to go ahead? According to Matteo, ‘Real estate investors are of course keen to deploy their funds in real estate and they realise that today real estate is more valuable if a modern operator is engaged and provides additional value and services to the end users.’ End users meaning the client; their tenants and possible guests. This trend is revolutionising not just hospitality but across all sectors, from offices to residential to serviced apartments in Europe. According to Ghedini, this allows an operator like Brera to increase their attractiveness and profitability of developments that “would not be feasible otherwise”.

The serviced apartment phenomenon is progressing rapidly, especially as advancements in technology and innovative real estate concepts mean further utilisation of the already scarce space in central cities more efficiently. ‘Co-working and co-living use less square meters per person [than traditional offices or residential spaces]. AirBnB uses already existing stock of apartments which would otherwise stay empty.’

However, he warns, like a lot of sudden change it can bring about unforeseen consequences. ‘More disruption will come from this need to squeeze as much people as possible in very crowded city centers. And the technological breakthroughs like AI and self driving cars will reshuffle everything once more’.

Matteo will join leading real estate players at Europe GRI 2019 (11-12 September, Paris). This year, the annual conference will host a special stream dedicated to Hospitality investments and developments. Learn more about GRI Hospitality Europe 2019.