Serviced apartments are booming in popularity for two reasons. First, they provide unmatched comfort and luxury to travelers from around the world. Second, they do so while combining the convenience of a hotel with the functionality of a full apartment.
However, since they’re relatively new, many travelers have a few questions when it comes to basic etiquette and serviced apartments.
One of those questions is how you go about properly exiting one. You can find a thousand guides on booking the right London luxury apartment, but many people have to wing it when it comes to checking out. Sometimes, that results in fees, a bad reputation with the service provider, or lost luggage.
1: Be Prepared at the Scheduled Checkout Time
This is the most important aspect of a proper checkout, and it’s for the same reason that hotels do the same thing. You have to be leaving the apartment and talking to the checkout service or checking out on a supported app at the time that is scheduled.
This is because, even if you put in a lot of work to clean the place up and leave it as you found it, which we’ll talk about later, a crew still needs to come in and prepare it for the next guest. This might just be hours after your departure, and any delay puts unnecessary pressure on the team.
Failing to do this usually results in an added fee.
2: Proper Clean Up
A crew will come in and clean the apartment once you depart. However, just like any other time you use a sort of temporary housing solution, you are expected to leave the place in proper condition.
With a serviced apartment, you’re expected to throw away any trash you might have, remove all your belongings, and ensure that everything is in its place like you found it. You typically aren’t expected to wash the linen, vacuum, or anything like that, but making it look tidy is a requirement.
No, leaving bedding bundled up on the bed isn’t going to have any tangible consequences, but it will damage your reputation as a guest.
Trashing the place will likely be reported and come with a fee.
As an added note, make sure you do a second check of your belongings. If you brought a lot of stuff, consider having a checklist that you can go through for this step. If you leave something behind and then travel back home, retrieving your property will be difficult.
3: Communicate with Checkout Staff
This will vary depending on the serviced apartment you stay at. Some utilize checkout apps that you use to notify staff of your departure and end your stay. This is a fairly modern way of doing it. However, many still require you to speak to on-site staff and inform them that you’re leaving. If speaking to on-site staff is an option, that’s what we recommend. It ensures that they know you really checked out on time, there is no room for confusion, and any issues you might have can be brought up and resolved immediately.
