Short-stays seek a long life
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Pepijn Meyer zu Schlochtern relaxes in his short-stay apartment. |
The two-bedroom apartment in downtown Xuhui district might not have had a single long-term resident since it was built in 2007, but the limited-edition wood furnishings and tasteful décor certainly gives the place a "lived-in" feel.
The kitchen is fully stocked with pots, pans, crockery and cutlery and even a couple of complementary sodas have been thoughtfully placed in the fridge.
This is a short-stay apartment in Shanghai, a homely alternative to the city's plethora of interchangeable hotel rooms and regular serviced apartments.
Businessman and veteran traveller Jorg Van Doornmalen said he was pleased with the ready-to-move in feel of his apartment provided by Short Stay Shanghai.
"Nothing was missing," said the 32-year-old who stayed for a week with his brother and father. "Sometimes if you don't have something in a hotel, you have to go out and buy it, but that wasn't a problem in the apartment."
And perhaps the biggest attraction for Van Doornmalen was the price tag.
"It's great value for money compared to luxury hotels," he said. And that's particularly true now because of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which has pushed prices up all over town."
A developing market
Short-stay apartments have been around in Europe since the 1980s, largely as an offshoot of the corporate housing market. Employees being relocated would be housed in serviced apartments temporarily, usually for between three and six months. A Google search lists five serviced apartment businesses catering to the Shanghai region, although some of them operate remotely.
Pepijn Meyer zu Schlochtern has been living in Shanghai for the past two years. And during that time he's noticed an increase in the number of vacant apartments while riding his bike throughout the city.
"It's ridiculous. People can't buy properties and then you have compounds that are 40 percent empty in downtown Shanghai," he said.
Meyer zu Schlochtern estimates about 30 percent of the accommodation properties in Shanghai are standing empty.
And it was this discovery that led him to first investigate the possibility of starting a business that focused solely on providing short-stay apartments in Shanghai. His company, Short Stay Shanghai, offers furnished apartments for as little as one night. Regular serviced apartments typically require customers to stay for a minimum of one week.
"Short-stay apartments actually use the opportunity that is already available because a lot of apartments are empty," said Meyer zu Schlochtern.
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