There are two types of short term accommodation in Cambridge – absolute short term
accommodation, which is intended for people staying less than (roughly) 14 days; and business type short term accommodation, which is for people staying for longer.
The difference between the two definitions resides in the fact that hotels, which
cater for normal-length business trips of a couple of days to (again roughly) a working week, also accommodate leisure travellers – for whom a long term stay is seen as anything over 14 days. While a short term apartment,
which is designed for people staying for medium to long terms (in the language of business trips), considers anything less than a full lease term of six months to be short term.
For business purposes, then, the basic short term accommodation is really a hotel
– in that a business traveller usually stays in either a hotel or a bed and breakfast for average and short length business requirements, where one or two nights are all that are needed. If longer stays are necessary, the
business user classes himself or herself as a mid to long term resident and looks for accommodation that can serve her or him accordingly.
The serviced apartment, which may be used for mid to longer term business trips, differs
from a hotel or a bed and breakfast in a number of important ways. For a start, a serviced apartment tends to have a kitchen of its own, and supplies a full range of home conveniences to the user. Also the serviced apartment
implies no restrictions on when a guest can use its conveniences: while some bed and breakfasts may require their guests to be absent from the premises at certain times of day.
Hotels may operate a timed food service, too, which means that a guest cannot get
exactly what he or she needs when he or she needs it – and of course in order to eat in the dining room, the guest is also required to be wearing suitable clothes. While these may not be full smart business attire, they
certainly won’t be a dressing gown and slippers either. Clearly there’s a difference here between the apartment and the hotel – in that the apartment promotes a more restful and natural environment for its user.