Once upon a time, HR managers, corporate travel coordinators, and operations professionals could typically lean on traditional hotel bookings as ideal options when it was time to find housing solutions for traveling employees in their company. These days, the rise of the corporate rental solution is both evident and exciting, giving HR managers, travel coordinators, and operations specialists an opportunity to expand their horizons in fantastic ways. More than ever before, business travelers are looking for places to stay when they’re out of the office for an extended time that go above and beyond the standardized hotel room experience they may have been subject to in the past.
Corporate housing options offer a unique opportunity for HR managers and corporate travel coordinators to provide employees with extended stay solutions focused on customized comfort, style, convenience, and even luxury. This can be done while emphasizing cost-effective decisions too, when you know what factors are most important to look for throughout the booking process. The following guide is a great place to start when you want to navigate corporate housing options with confidence, and provide your team with the solutions they not only want, but deserve to enjoy.
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Understanding the Vast Appeal of Corporate Housing Is Step One
Far from the traditional and highly standardized hotel experience many veteran business travelers may be used to, corporate housing offers business travelers a chance to enjoy time away from the office in fully furnished accommodations that lean into more specific and home-inspired style standards. It’s important for HR managers, travel coordinators, and business operations specialists in companies with employees regularly out on the road for professional projects, to understand the vast and quickly growing appeal of these property solutions. It’s equally essential to be aware of how they compare to the hotel accommodations many are familiar with.
Perhaps the biggest difference to consider between corporate housing and hotels is that when you’re booking a corporate rental for employees, you’ll be inviting them to stay in a space complete with dedicated and customized amenities, that’s crafted to feel like a permanent home to enjoy over the course of a few weeks or months. These properties are marketed specifically to cater to professionals who are looking for ultra-comfortable, convenient, ideally located, and affordable accommodations for mid-term stays. Where traditional hotels are meant to accommodate travelers of all types with little in the way of customized comforts, corporate housing can be booked toward more specific preferences. HR managers booking corporate housing will have options to pick and choose between fully furnished apartments, condos, and even residential homes, depending on employee needs. These spaces are set up with separate living and sleeping areas, often come with fully equipped kitchens, and provide flexible or no-lease options alongside enhanced security standards too.
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Corporate Housing Is a Great and Flexible Option for Many Professional Situations
While an extended stay hotel booking might have been a viable option in the past for individual employees out on the road for sales conferences, special projects, or recruitment purposes, these days, more is expected when it comes to finding ideal accommodations for traveling professionals. HR managers will find there’s a ton of inviting flexibility within corporate housing solutions, and when you’re booking a stay, you have room to really take travel type, employee preference, destinations, and cost considerations into account. While corporate housing options are certainly wonderful to be able to book for those standard project-based assignments that take employees out of the office for weeks or months at a time, they’re also a great solution for companies that employ professionals on a contracted basis. If you’re bringing in consultants for an extended period of time, corporate housing solutions near the office can be a convenient way to inspire contractors to feel settled in with more ease, and more quickly a part of your overall company culture too.
Additionally, corporate housing is something to definitely consider booking for employees who are being relocated to new headquarters and bringing their families along too. Trying to make an employee’s entire family feel comfortable in a standard hotel setting in a new city while they search for a forever home is understandably next to impossible. HR managers and travel coordinators hoping to keep the experience as comfortable and welcoming as possible in this scenario will find corporate housing options to provide the refreshing feeling of a true home-away-from-home in a new place while employees and their families take on the task of finding their permanent destination in town. Depending on the industry you work in, HR managers might also find booking corporate housing is a great way to go when looking to house production crews, or medical professionals in town on temporary assignments, and looking for a welcoming place to use as their home base.
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There’s a Lot to Look Forward to in the Way of Enhanced Amenities in Corporate Housing Solutions
When HR managers begin to consider corporate housing bookings for employees instead of traditional extended stay hotels, it doesn’t take long to discover that the list of amenities and features available to guests far surpasses the standard model. Corporate housing options are designed for work and leisure alike, and the amenities found on-site are thoughtfully included to ensure the work/life balance is intact for guests at all times. Corporate housing solutions come with inviting and fully furnished living spaces in place, as well as in-unit or on-site laundry facilities too. Corporate rentals are designed with fully equipped kitchens in mind, and even in smaller property options, typically have a kitchenette in place at a minimum. It’s standard practice to find corporate housing with Wi-Fi included in the upfront cost, as well as all utilities built into the experience as well. Many corporate housing solutions sit within easy reach of city transportation options as an added convenience to guests, and weekly housekeeping services are built into the mid-term stay schedule too. Verifying these customized features and amenities is also typically a breeze for HR managers. Many corporate housing communities are more than happy to arrange property visits for travel coordinators interested in getting a first-hand look at security standards in place, overall cleanliness of property options, and to make sure that amenities listed are in place and in great shape as well.
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Booking a Corporate Rental Can Cut Down on Employee Travel Costs
More often than not these days, business travelers across industries are looking more towards housing solutions that not only help them reach their business goals on the road, but keep their well-being top of mind too. HR managers will find that in addition to these great benefits, choosing to book corporate rentals can cut down significantly on overall travel costs for the company. When you’re booking an extended stay, corporate housing offers significant savings compared to the cost of booking a traditional hotel long-term. That’s because corporate housing solutions and pricing models are specifically set up for travelers looking to book weeks or months out at a time.
Alternatively, traditional hotels are priced by the night, and even with a partnership discount in place, it doesn’t take long for this to get expensive. Booking a corporate rental solution for your employees means you can pick and choose from great locations near budget-friendly eateries, and the inclusion of a fully equipped kitchen on-site gives long-term business travelers a chance to infuse home-style meals into their stay too. On-site laundry in a corporate rental makes it easy to avoid laundromat fees, while stays that extend more than a month in a corporate rental often come with deep discounts included too. Overall, it’s estimated that booking a corporate housing solution over a traditional hotel can save companies up to 25% on expenses.
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There Are Ample Options to Tailor the Details of Your Booking
In the past, HR managers and in-office travel coordinators were rather limited to picking a long-stay hotel option for business travelers and hoping that the benefits would extend to any and all scenarios that might arise along the way. With corporate rental solutions now more accessible than ever, there’s no need to rely on chance. Instead, you can take time to really evaluate what the best housing option would be for the specific employees you’re looking to serve. Corporate housing solutions give HR managers a well-deserved opportunity to sit back and consider what a traveler’s needs and requirements comprehensively entail. This might include a closer look at how many employees can comfortably stay in the same accommodations, or if it’s necessary to book two side-by-side fully furnished apartments. It also might mean taking a closer look at what type of amenities traveling employees not only need, but would truly enjoy, and how to work around a set budget for that extended stay experience. For example, there are options to tailor corporate rental bookings to include dedicated parking when you know your professional team is bound to be heading out to a long lineup of meetings during their stay.
There are also options to book properties with high-speed Wi-Fi when a large part of a traveler’s time will be dedicated to project planning right on-site. Picking a property with options to customize housekeeping schedules makes an extended work stay in another city far less distracting, while properties near great city attractions inspire travelers to pair work and play alike! When you know you need a corporate rental with access to a gym for employees, or you’re looking for a stay with luxe community lounges included, creating a tailored getaway experience begins with booking corporate housing that emphasizes customized features at every turn.
Don’t Overlook the Power of a Morale Boost When It Comes to Employee Productivity
While the above-mentioned five factors to be aware of when booking corporate housing are decidedly important, it’s also good for HR managers not to overlook just how effective corporate rentals can be in boosting employee morale, and subsequently, productivity too. When business travelers are asked to stay in a standardized hotel room for an extended period of time, it doesn’t always take long for frustration to set in. A traditional hotel can often require traveling employees to dine at costly on-site eateries daily, when they’d much rather enjoy a healthy, home-cooked meal in a comfortable dining setting all to themselves. Hotels tend to be bustling places where strangers are coming and going at all hours, and noise levels are something that can often be out of a guest’s control. Wi-Fi might not be dependable in hotels and mass-produced furnishings aren’t always the most comfortable or inviting, especially over the long term.
Alternatively, booking corporate housing solutions for business travelers ensures a space to settle in that’s high-quality, customized to specific project needs, and welcoming from the moment visitors arrive. Your employees deserve to feel right at home in their corporate rental and access to private kitchens, luxe bedrooms, dedicated workspaces, and on-site amenities they don’t have to share with strangers can absolutely make all the difference in how they feel about their travel experience. This leads to a more focused, inspired employee, and typically, the professional results of this mindset are evident as well. Because corporate rentals are often situated in tranquil, beautiful, and inviting neighborhoods too, employees can count on being better rested which always makes a difference, but is particularly important when the plan is to be somewhere new for weeks or months on end.
Book Corporate Housing Solutions with iHost Today
Premium corporate housing solutions are always at your fingertips when you partner with iHost. Here, we specialize in providing welcoming retreats for business travelers or relocating employees when you know you want to provide them with above-and-beyond experiences during their extended stays. All of our property options are comfortable, fully furnished, and fit to your preferred budget too. We aim to help business travelers focus on the work at hand in surroundings that make them feel right at home upon arrival. Reach out today to learn more about our exciting and inviting options!
