Why Service Apartments Are Gaining Ground as a Residential-Style Alternative to Hotels

Authored By Sandeep Ahuja, Global CEO, Atmosphere Living

The concept of temporary accommodation is changing fast, driven by shifts in how people travel, work, and live away from home. Today, more travellers and organisations are looking beyond traditional hotels for a living experience that feels more like home yet retains professional service. Service apartments have emerged at the intersection of hospitality and residential living, offering a compelling alternative.

The global service apartment market is growing rapidly. According to Grand View Research, this market is in the phase of development where it is expected to increase its size from around USD 31.05 billion in 2025 to nearly USD 76.33 billion in 2035. In this period, its overall average annual growth rate is estimated to be more than 9.41 percent.

Urban professionals now move frequently between cities, often for unpredictable lengths of time. A trip planned for a few days can easily extend into weeks. In this context, the conventional hotel room begins to feel limiting. Living out of a suitcase, working from a bed, and relying on external services no longer fits how people work and live today.

Most travellers now prefer accommodations that offer a residential feel, including corporate assignees, project-based professionals, as well as families on extended vacations, spiritual travellers and digital nomads.

Service apartments respond by offering something different: spaces designed for living, not just staying. Instead of a single multifunctional room, guests have an apartment with defined spaces — a living area, a kitchen or kitchenette, and often access to laundry facilities. This allows daily routines to continue uninterrupted, even while on the move.

What makes this residential-style format increasingly appealing is not luxury, but everyday normality. Being able to sit on a couch after a long day instead of remaining on a bed, eating at a dining table with proper cutlery rather than from takeaway boxes, storing food, making a simple meal, or having a coffee or a cup of tea on one’s own schedule and style. These small details reflect a broader change in what travellers now value: comfort is no longer defined by formality or excess, but by how closely a space supports everyday life. As mobility increases and stays grow longer, residential-style accommodation is becoming a preferred choice. Apartments replace rooms, services are available without being intrusive, and the experience is designed to feel like home.

This shift is also influencing how developers and operators are approaching the service apartment format. In markets where long-stay demand is rising, the focus is increasingly on creating residences that balance operational efficiency with everyday liveability. Concepts like Atmosphere Living, which operate at the intersection of real estate and managed accommodation, reflect this evolution, where design, location and service models are aligned to support extended stays rather than short-term occupancy.

Cost considerations also play a central role to why service apartments are gaining ground. For stays of one month or more, service apartments often work out significantly more economical on a per night basis than hotels. This is not simply a matter of room rate: having in unit kitchens, laundry facilities, and living space reduces incidental costs for meals and services that typically add up in hotel budgets.

In that sense, service apartments are not competing with hotels on the same terms. They are answering a different need altogether: how to live well, maintain routine, and feel at home, even when home is temporarily somewhere else.