What, exactly, are the "services" one would expect with a serviced apartment? No, no, not THAT kind of servicing! It's just that I'm not familiar with the term here in the U.S., and I'd like to have some background before I go looking for a place.

My understanding of "Serviced" is that is differs according to the places.

Basically for serviced you should understand the same services as you have in hotel: on top of TV, furniture, etc. and water/electricity included in the bill, you also have daily cleaning, with linen and towels changed everyday.

You can ask for breakfast to be included in monthly rent, or when you drop in. Phone bill to be paid separetely.

In practice, some places will offer you different options: with maid in option, laundry in option, changing linen only once a week, etc.

You really have to enquire to be sure of what you get before you sign up

http://apartments.thaivisa.com gives you all info.

George,

Actually, those apartment listings (like others I've surfed) give SOME of the info on what's available, but it can be very vague while seeming to be inclusive. For example, here's a list of "services" at one of the places:

- Swimming pool - Fitness center - Sauna rooms - Tuk Tuk service (three-wheel vehicle) - Reading room - Roof garden - Conference room - Business center - Internet corners - Mini-mart - Beauty salon - Limousine service - Laundry & dry clean service - Mail boxes - Massage service - Close circuit TV monitoring (CCTV) - 24-hour security personnel - Table tennis - pin ball table

- Lobby - Children - Playroom & playground

Now, while this looks like an extensive list, it's really just a list of available facilities and features. It doesn't tell me that they offer linen service, nor do they suggest that any of the services like Tuk-tuk or Laundry are free of charge. What I'm finding is that the complexes call themselves "serviced" without defining what IS and what IS NOT included. I especially like "Lobby". Now that's something of value (???)

Fill in the form and ask them!

Ahhh, well, that was the point of the original question, e.g., Is there a generally accepted definition for serviced apartment? And the answer appears to be, "No." Every place is different. Travelgirl's response seems as reasonable as I can expect, I guess, without individually querying each facility.

My understanding of "Serviced" is that is differs according to the places.

Basically for serviced you should understand the same services as you have in hotel: on top of TV, furniture, etc. and water/electricity included in the bill, you also have daily cleaning, with linen and towels changed everyday.

You can ask for breakfast to be included in monthly rent, or when you drop in. Phone bill to be paid separetely.

In practice, some places will offer you different options: with maid in option, laundry in option, changing linen only once a week, etc.

You really have to enquire to be sure of what you get before you sign up

Agree with travelgirl, in my line of work i normally stayed in serviced apartments.

Just like a hotel, but with a kitchen and several bedrooms.

If you rent an appartment in Europe, it's just that! you rent a room(s) in a buiding. You take care of the place, maybe get phone / cableTV installed, clean yourself or hire a maid,... Difficult to rent short term, mostly minimum 1 year contract...

If you rent a serviced appartment over here, it means all these services are available "in-house". The building management employs maids, has a laundry, maintains the gym, maintains the swimmingpool,... All this is available to the renters, included or excluded from your rental fee depending on contract. In case they are excluded, you just ring up the reception, order whatever you need (food, maid,..) they deliver and you'll get billed. Very convenient when you don't have to shop around for all that stuff... Most of the times available for short or long terms...

Monty,

It's the same in the U.S., although sometimes furnished apartments are available. I guess I'll just see how things go once I settle in. I was trying to get a fix on the pricing, but without knowing what's included for each place, there's no way to compare from long distance.