Are serviced apartments the safer alternative to hotels? Do they meet the expectations for a prolonged stay away from home? Do they comply with corporate travel policy?

Across Europe, duty of care is important. "Companies recognise their duty of care towards staff, particularly with the growing difficulty in finding people to go abroad, they want to take particular care of their people and they lay on home finding, orientation and immigration services," says president of the European Relocation Association (EuRA) Helmut Berg.

In the UK, companies' obligation to duty of care ranges from concern for employees' work-life balance to adherence to the Corporate Manslaughter & Homicide Act.

Quality of life, health and safety requirements are the most common reason for housing employees in serviced apartments for international assignments. Apartments allow people to live as they do at home and with their family, where applicable. They can look after themselves and relax in a way that is not possible in a hotel, not least because hotel guests are reliant on other people to provide every service.

"You cannot relax as easily in a hotel as you can in an apartment when you invite friends or have family around," says managing director of The Apartment Service, Charles McCrow. "An apartment is a bit more like normal home life. This leads to a happier worker, greater work productivity and fewer HR issues"

An apartment is often in a residential development, so guests feel less like a tourist in the city says Tracey Stephenson, co-founder of Staying Cool, a niche operator with apartments in Birmingham and Manchester in the UK. In London's Dolphin Square, which is part residential, part serviced apartments, guests get the twin advantages of the independence that apartments allow and the opportunity to mix with the residents in the bar.

"We promote use of apartments based on the effect on people's wellbeing - they are more comfortable and provide a more homely environment," says head of UK hotels and venues procurement for PricewaterhouseCoopers Sam van Leeuwen.

However, apartment operators are beginning to see a change in the length of contracts. "People are saying they will not go on a project for 18 months and as a result, companies are taking shorter contracts on apartments rather than long term leases of houses," says The Apartment Service's Mike Stapley. "Work-life balance drives companies to assign on a different basis."