Something has quietly changed in the way people stay away from home. Not long ago, if you were working on a project in another city, your options were a hotel room or a six-month tenancy - one too cramped and expensive for anything beyond a week, the other far too much commitment. Today, there's a third option that's rapidly becoming the default: the long stay in a serviced apartment. And the numbers behind it tell a remarkable story.
Long Stays Are No Longer a Niche
Stays of 28 days or more now account for roughly one in six nights booked on Airbnb worldwide - a figure the platform reports consistently quarter after quarter. What began as a pandemic-era workaround has become a permanent shift in how people live and work. Remote and hybrid working, project-based contracts and a growing preference for flexibility over commitment have all pushed travellers towards accommodation that works for weeks and months, not just nights.
The UK is riding the same wave. The British serviced apartment market was valued at over £3 billion in 2024 and is projected to more than double within the next decade - and notably, business and corporate travellers make up more than half of that demand. Industry forecasts for 2026 point to mid-term stays of two to eight weeks as one of the strongest growth areas in the entire accommodation sector, sitting neatly in the gap between hotels and traditional tenancies that serviced apartments were built to fill.
Why Contractors Are Leading the Shift
No group has embraced the long stay quite like contractors and tradespeople. Construction and infrastructure work is the single largest source of contractor accommodation demand in the UK - every major build, road scheme and rail project brings teams of skilled workers who need somewhere practical to live near the job, often for months at a time.
For those teams, hotels simply don't stack up. There's nowhere to cook after a long shift, nowhere to wash work gear, nowhere to park the van without paying city rates, and the nightly cost multiplies quickly across a whole crew. A serviced apartment solves all of it in one go - a full kitchen, a washing machine, free parking and proper living space, usually at a rate that saves employers up to 30% compared to equivalent hotel bookings on longer stays, particularly for teams sharing.
Flexibility matters just as much as cost. Project timelines shift, and the ability to extend or adjust a booking without penalty is something a serviced apartment operator can offer where a hotel or a fixed tenancy can't.
It's Not Just Contractors
While contractors may be the biggest driver, they're far from the only people booking long stays. The same shift is happening across a whole range of situations:
Relocating Professionals
Anyone moving to a new city for work needs a comfortable base while they get to know the area and search for a permanent home - without rushing into a tenancy on a street they've never seen. A one or two month serviced stay has become the standard bridge.
Remote and Hybrid Workers
When work no longer ties you to one desk, extended stays in new cities become possible. Fast, reliable WiFi and a proper living space - somewhere you can actually take a video call - have turned serviced apartments into the remote worker's accommodation of choice.
Insurance and Emergency Housing
When a home is damaged by fire, flood or major repairs, families need somewhere that feels like home for the weeks or months it takes to put things right. Insurers increasingly place households in serviced apartments rather than hotels for exactly this reason.
NHS and Locum Staff
Healthcare professionals on placements and rotations need practical, comfortable accommodation close to the hospital - often at short notice and for irregular lengths of time that traditional renting can't accommodate.
What to Look For in a Long-Stay Base
Not every short-let apartment is genuinely set up for a long stay. If you're going to spend a month or more somewhere, a few things make all the difference: a fully equipped kitchen you'd actually enjoy cooking in, a washing machine, free parking, fast WiFi, quality bedding, and - crucially - a professional operator who offers weekly cleaning and linen changes on extended bookings, discounted weekly and monthly rates, and a real person to speak to if anything needs sorting. Those last points are what separate a professionally managed serviced apartment from an ordinary holiday let.
Why Coventry Works So Well for Long Stays
Here's the part of the trend that works strongly in your favour if you're staying in the Midlands: industry analysis increasingly points to secondary cities as the smart choice for multi-week stays. Guests get noticeably more space and better value than in London, Birmingham or Manchester, while occupancy in these cities is driven by steady, year-round professional demand rather than seasonal tourism.
Coventry is a textbook example. The city sits at the heart of the UK's transport network - Birmingham is around 20 minutes by train and London under an hour - and it's home to major ongoing construction and regeneration, two universities, a major hospital and a growing cluster of engineering and technology employers. Whether you're on site for a project, on placement at the hospital, relocating to the area or working remotely for a season, Coventry offers everything a long stay needs without big-city prices.
Long Stays With Sora Luxury Stays
Our Queens Road apartment was set up with exactly these stays in mind. You'll find a fully equipped kitchen, fast WiFi, hotel-quality linen, a washing machine, free parking and self check-in as standard - plus discounted weekly and monthly rates and housekeeping on extended bookings, so a longer stay stays fresh from the first week to the last.
We're minutes on foot from Coventry Railway Station and the city centre, which means everything from the supermarket run to the morning commute is refreshingly simple - whether you're here for a fortnight or half a year.
Ready to Book Your Long Stay?
Check availability for our Queens Road apartment and take advantage of our long-stay rates. Booking for a team, a company placement or an extended period? Get in touch directly at info@soraluxurystays.com - we'll always offer our best rate for longer bookings.