American operator Oakwood is also well represented in the Far East and senior vice president and general manager for Oakwood Worldwide, Gavan James feels the US is the barometer for what happens elsewhere in the industry. "We believe there will be several market strata," he says.

Oakwood already has Premium, a high end brand; and Residence for the mid market.

"We are seeing demand for a 3-star product - still with 24-hour front desk, on site staff and weekly housekeeping - but with the prices associated with that as more mid-line people are moved around the world." James also anticipates demand will grow exponentially in Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

In the Middle East, another model is developing. "There are a lot of purposebuilt serviced apartments coming on line, where you get a corporate housing kind of operation with limited service," says Bakker. "Traditionally, serviced apartments have been built adjacent to hotels and the two are integrated, so that hotel services are available." Marriott has followed this strategy worldwide with MEA. Forthcoming developments that fit this model include St Regis Cairo and St Regis Abu Dhabi, both to open with serviced apartments; Le Méridien Doha, 250 rooms and 110 apartments; InterContinental Hotels and apartments in Tripoli and Doha; Crowne Plaza hotel and apartments in Abu Dhabi.

As the industry grows with demand, competition will increase and operators of serviced apartments will work harder to ensure that while quality remains high, innovation and service at different levels will mark the difference between the players. This can only benefit customers.