The good, the bad and the ugly of short stays in Singapore

Choosing the right accommodation is important even if you’re just looking for temporary housing. Whether you’re here for a short assignment, on an extended holiday, waiting for your house to be renovated or even your BTO (Build-To-Order) to be completed.

A lot of factors should come into consideration, not just the duration. Affordability, quality, location are all important considerations when choosing a place to live. So here are the different options available, and the good, the bad and the ugly of them.

Hotels.

Hotels rooms are good for a very short stay. They’re luxurious but they come with a hefty price tag, so it might hurt your wallet in the long term. Also, hotel rooms tend to be small, having just a room is nothing compared to having an entire apartment to yourself. With rooms, you may have to sacrifice on basic necessities like having a kitchen.

Homesharing.

Homesharing options like Airbnb are the answer to the price tag problems, their prices have a large range. However, do keep in mind you are living in someone else’s home. There is no quality assurance, and experiences differ from different hosts.

Branded service apartments.

Usually, the serviced apartments Singapore come from a hospitality chain, like Far East or Ascotts. These serviced apartments are usually costly, as they come from the same brand and standard of quality of the luxury hotel chain. Serviced apartments have similar services to hotels – like housekeeping and front desk services and are fully furnished.

Classifieds.

Classifieds like gumtree and craigslist have a whole host of apartments for rent. Usually unserviced and without maintenance support, these occasionally come at the cheapest cost. It’s more work into searching, as you have to filter for available dates (as usually, every listing is a single apartment) and to look for something that is not shoddily furnished.

Tip: Beware of scams, especially when people request for payment via wire transfers even before you’ve seen the place or signed an agreement. 

Booking Platforms.

A booking platform for serviced apartments has certain advantages, they pool together different serviced apartments, and have many options available to suit your budget, location and required size. 

A step further, a platform like us manages properties of private owners and large asset owners. This way you get all that is good of serviced apartments in Singapore – the housekeeping, maintenance, front desk services and more. Without the corporate markup, the serviced apartments are kept affordable while ensuring a standard of quality. You can look for apartments that meet your criteria whether it is budget, location or size.