frequently asked questions - about our serviced apartments

what is a serviced apartment?
A serviced apartment is the perfect alternative to a hotel stay, providing furnished accommodation, complete with separate living, dining and sleeping areas, with a fully equipped kitchen and laundry facility. All esa’s apartments offer the business traveller the true comforts of a home, combined with the luxury and services you would expect from a hotel.

what is the difference between a serviced apartment and a hotel?
esa’s serviced apartments range between 350 to 2000 sq ft, providing significant extra living space than a deluxe or superior hotel room. What’s more, serviced apartments offer an average savings of up to 30% in comparison to an equivalent local hotel. Inclusive of high speed broadband WIFI, landline telephone, quality linen, housekeeping services, SKY TV package, full entertainment system and complimentary groceries welcome pack.

what type of serviced accommodation is available from esa?
esa offers a wide range of accommodation solutions to suit every requirement. From spacious studios to five bedroom houses, strategically positioned near transport links and local amenities in key locations across the South of England. Selecting your apartment is easy and all esa apartments are furnished and fitted to the highest specification, featuring recognizable added touches to ensure that whichever location you choose, you will know it’s an esa apartment.

how do I book an apartment?
Booking an apartment is just as easy as booking a hotel. A member of our Reservations team is on hand to assist with any bookings, check apartment availability or schedule a viewing. Simply contact us by telephone, email or fax with your request or alternatively, fill in an enquiry form on our website. esa endeavours to respond to all requests within 2 working hours, followed by a detailed proposal, photo pack and quotation, tailored to your needs.

how far in advance do you need to make a reservation?
You can book an esa serviced apartment or house up to the day of arrival and we will try our best to accommodate your request, subject to availability. Please note that some special requests may not be available for last minute bookings.

how much does an esa apartment cost?
The longer you stay, the better the value with a lower rate available for bookings over 7 days and further reductions for any bookings over 28 nights. All of our prices are quoted on a weekly basis, and will be adjust to a price per night if your length of stay is shorter. All prices quoted for accommodation is subject to VAT at 20%. A VAT reduction to 4% is standard for accommodation exceeding 28 days. For full details of prices, special offers and current availability, please contact our Reservations team on +44 (0) 1635 904029 or send an email to .

how do I pay? when will my booking be confirmed?
We accept most major credit and debit cards for payment. Full pre-payment is expected for any bookings up to 28 nights, except if you have already have an account with us. Bookings made with a Visa Debit Card and Maestro / Solo will not incur a transaction fee. Any bookings made with an American Express, Diner Club Card, International Visa Credit Cards or Mastercard will incur a transaction fee of 3%. Once your payment has been received, you will receive a detailed confirmation email with your booking summary, directions to the apartment and details of how to check in.

do I have to pay a security deposit?
esa reserves the right to charge a £500.00 refundable security deposit for any bookings, subject to our terms and conditions. A security deposit will be refunded once the apartment has been checked following check out. Don’t worry our Reservations team will advise you at the time of booking if we need to take a deposit.

what is included in the price?
Your esa serviced apartment is very similar to a hotel and the rates include:

• accommodation in a serviced apartment or house for the number of persons booked
• the use of the facilities within that apartment
• fresh bed linen and plentiful towels changed once a week
• complimentary luxury toiletries
• a weekly housekeeping service
• 24 hour emergency contact service
• all utility and council tax bills (excluding direct dialled phone calls and pay-per-view movies)
• a welcome pack of essential groceries
• Sky TV with sports package (except in a minority of buildings where the service is not available)
• broadband wireless and wired internet access

what additional costs might be incurred?

• direct dialled phone calls
• pay-per view movies
• additional housekeeping service requested
• additional guest services requested
• additional business services requested

can I extend my stay?
Yes, subject to availability. Please contact our Client Relations team at least 14 days prior to your original departure date. We will try to accommodate any extension requests with less notice than this, but this may not always be possible. If we are unable to accommodate your extension, our dedicated Reservations team will endeavour to assist you with an alternative solution. To extend an existing booking, call our Client Relations team on +44 (0) 1635 904029 or fill out our extension booking form and we’ll contact you with any availability, additional costs and confirmation.

how much notice do I need to provide if I wish to cancel my booking?
For bookings of less than 7 nights, esa requires a minimum of 4 days written notice, prior to midday on the day of arrival. For all bookings between 7 – 28 days, we require a minimum of 7 days written notice. For cancellations for all other length of booking, a minimum of 21 days written notice is required. A cancellation charge of 100% will be liable outside of these terms.

is there a special rate for longer stays?
Our prices vary according to the length of booking and the size of serviced apartment selected. Please talk to our Reservations team on +44 (0) 1635 904029 to discuss your requirements, alternatively complete our enquiry form and we’ll get back to you.

do you have a map showing your locations?
Yes! You can find a complete list and interactive map of our locations here. Select your area of interest and discover a wealth of information detailing properties available, images of the building and apartments in the areas, local transport links and hotel comparisons for your convenience. This section also has downloadable building flyers so you can save your selections for later.

is the accommodation located near the town centre?
All of esa’s properties are strategically selected for their location in proximity to the town centre and access to the main transport links and local area facilities.

is there parking available?
Secure off street parking is available with the majority of our properties and limited to one car per serviced apartment. Should you require parking for the duration of your stay, please ensure you make this request when making your booking. This will ensure you are allocated suitable accommodation with parking and enables us to provide a valid residential parking permit, as well as the correct keys / fobs or access codes for the parking area on check in.

what facilities are available in the apartment?
All esa serviced apartments and houses are fully furnished and offer guests every comfort and convenience. Guests benefit from a fully furnished separate living space, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. All properties include fresh linen, towels and complimentary luxury toiletries. Kitchens are equipped with refrigerator, cooker and hob, microwave, saucepans, cutlery and crockery and washing machine. Living areas include a cd / dvd player, flat screen TV, Sky package and surround sound system for optimum entertainment. For you added convenience, all apartments include a hairdryer, iron and ironing board; see apartment features for a full list of inclusions.

do serviced apartments have double or single beds?
All the serviced apartments have double beds in the master and main bedrooms. Some of the larger properties may have single beds in the smaller additional bedrooms. Full details of each property can be obtained from our Reservations team, prior to making a booking.

how many people can sleep in one apartment?
The number of people permitted to occupy each serviced apartment is limited to the number of beds available. The number of people occupying the apartment must be agreed at the time of booking. However guests are welcome to have the occasional guest to stay depending on the number of spare beds available in the apartment or house.

can cots/extra beds be provided for visiting guests? is there an additional cost?
We can arrange for a cot / extra bed to be provided at £10.00 plus VAT per night, subject to availability. Please contact us in advance to book this.

is there a lift in the building?
Yes, most of our properties have a lift. If a lift is essential to your accommodation need, please talk to our Reservations team in advance to request a apartment with this facility.

can we smoke in the apartment?
We operate a strict no smoking policy. If evidence of smoking is detected or found in the apartment, the guest may be asked to leave and additional apartment cleaning or redecoration charges will be billed.

are pets allowed in the apartment?
We are sorry but pets are not allowed in an esa serviced apartment. This pet policy is based on the building policies and esa is not responsible for any action taken by the building management.

what time can we check in?
esa’s standard check in time is from 4pm. We operate a personal meet and greet check in services for all guests checking in, unless previously arranged with our Client Relations team, you will not be able to access your apartment any earlier than 4pm. If you need an early check in, please make this request when filling out our guest arrivals form and we'll try and accommodate you.

how and where can I collect my keys?
esa’s Guest Relations team personally meets and greets all guests on the day of arrival at the apartment. During this time, guests are required to sign our full guest terms and conditions and receive a comprehensive apartment induction, followed by any allocated keys, fobs and parking permits. Each guest will receive one set of keys.

what if I lose the key?
If you lose the key to your serviced apartment or house, we have a 24 hour call out service who will be able to give you access to the property and provide a new key. If this is between the hours of 10pm and 8am, a call out charge will be incurred. An additional charge of £150 will be incurred for the replacement set of keys and locksmith service required. If you lose a security fob for the main access or parking facility of the building, a further replacement charge of £50.00 will be charged.

what time is check out?
esa’s standard check out time is at 11am, but for a small charge, you may be able to arrange a later departure time. Please call our Guest Relations team on +44 (0) 1635 233040 for more details. Any late check out request is subject to availability and must be arranged at least 24 hours in advance. Please note our team will have full access to the property on the day of departure from 11am and all personal belongings must be removed from the property by then. esa is not responsible or liable for any items left in the apartment after this time.

what happens if I have a problem on arrival?
Every guest is met in person at the apartment on the day of arrival. If for some reason your arrival has been delayed, you can contact Guest Relations on +44 (0) 1635 233040 and a member of our team will be able to assist.

how often is housekeeping service provided
All apartments and houses are serviced once a week by our housekeeping team. This standard service is included within the apartment rate, additional service is available on request, at an additional charge. The date for your apartment service will be forwarded to you in your arrival email and in the unlikely event that this should change, our Guest Relations team will advise you of this in writing.

how often is the linen changed?
Fresh clean bed linen and towels are provided once a week as part of our regular housekeeping service. Additional towels and linen can be provided on request.

what happens if there is a problem with something in the apartment?
Our in-house Maintenance team are available to assist with any problems with your apartment. To report a problem or request a service, please email and a member of the team will contact you to discuss the issue and arrange a suitable time to access the property and rectify the issue. In the case of an emergency, such as flooding or electricity shortages, esa provides a 24 hour emergency call out service to ensure all issues are dealt with fast and effectively.

guest services & business services
We offer a wide range of additional services to enable you to work and live during your stay with us. Further details can be found by looking at our website under guest services and business services. An additional charge may be made for these services.

can you arrange a transfer service?
We can arrange a pick up service for guests from the airport through one of our approved and trusted suppliers. For arrival by train, we can recommend a reliable taxi service from the local train station for check in. Please arrange this at the time of booking. An extra charge will be incurred.

what is in the grocery welcome pack?
Our grocery welcome pack is complimentary and will be in your apartment upon arrival. The contents of the grocery welcome pack will depend on the intended length of your stay. For example, our full grocery pack (standard for stays of 30 nights or more) is sufficient to last you for a few days without you needing to visit the supermarket. The full grocery pack contains the following essential items:

However, should you wish to replace any of these items with an alternative product, please let us know upon booking and we will try to accommodate you.