Long stays · 24 August 2026 · 3 min read
Serviced apartment vs hotel in London: which is better for a long stay
For a two-night trip, a hotel is usually the simpler choice. From about a week upwards the maths, and the daily experience, start to move firmly in favour of a serviced apartment. Here is the honest comparison.
Space is the first difference, and the one you feel daily
A central London hotel room is typically 20 to 30 m². A one bedroom serviced apartment is around 50 m², with a separate bedroom, a living room you can work or eat in, and a proper kitchen. A two bedroom apartment gives a family the two things a hotel almost never does: a door between the parents and the children, and somewhere to sit once the children are asleep.
The real cost, once you add everything up
Compare the nightly rate alone and hotels can look competitive. Compare what you actually spend in a week and the picture changes:
- Breakfast for two in a central London hotel: often £40–£60 a day, versus what you buy at the supermarket
- Dinner out every night versus cooking two or three times a week
- Hotel laundry per item, versus a washer-dryer in the apartment
- Two hotel rooms for a family of four, versus one two bedroom apartment
- Bills, Wi-Fi and housekeeping — included in a serviced apartment rate, not a variable
Longer stays also unlock lower rates. At Marble Arch Apartments, stays of 30 nights or more are quoted at long-stay rates that sit well below the nightly price, with weekly housekeeping and all bills already inside the figure we quote.
Where hotels still win
We would rather be straight about this. A hotel is the better answer if you want room service at midnight, a bar downstairs, daily bed-making as standard, a gym and spa in the building, or complete flexibility to cancel at the last minute. If your trip is two or three nights and you will be out of the room most of the time, the extra square metres of an apartment are wasted on you.
Where serviced apartments win
- Stays of a week or more, where cost per night falls and living space matters
- Families and groups sharing, who need bedrooms and a living room rather than adjoining rooms
- Relocations and projects, where you need an address, a kitchen and laundry from day one
- Medical stays and visiting families, who want privacy and the ability to cook
- Anyone who wants a neighbourhood rather than a lobby
What 'serviced' should include
The word is used loosely. Ask what is actually in the price. In our building it means: a daytime concierge who meets arrivals and handles deliveries, all bills and utilities, fast Wi-Fi, maintenance, and — on stays of 30 nights or more — weekly housekeeping with fresh linen, which is part of the service and included in the quoted price rather than an optional extra.
Booking the right way
Whichever you choose, check the official website before booking through a platform. We guarantee the best price on direct bookings: find the same apartment, same dates, same conditions at a lower publicly bookable price and we match it and take a further 5% off.
Book direct
Nine serviced apartments in Marble Arch, London W2
Best price guaranteed. Find a lower price online and we match it, minus a further 5%. Details
