We are staying in an aparthotel in Paris. We decided on this type of accommodation for a few reasons. One, we wanted a kitchen so that we could prepare meals. Two, we wanted to be able to do laundry, given that this is the last leg of our trip and we almost exclusively travel with carry-ons. And three, we wanted a workspace area.

The options for these criteria are generally aparthotels, serviced apartments, and Airbnb rentals. But we struggled to find a suitable Airbnb that was reasonably priced and didn't feel lived in. So we ended up booking a place from Edgar Suites, which has a really nice portfolio of properties across Paris and other cities in France.

My view is that we will see more of these kinds of properties as cities systematically work to restrict — and sometimes ban — Airbnb. And so a fourth reason I wanted to stay here was to do some market research.

Here's what I can tell you about our stay.

The check-in process was entirely digital. The night before check-in, I received an email with a code for the building, a one-time code for our apartment (for initial validation), and a go-forward code once our check-in had been validated. Everything worked seamlessly.

There weren't many pictures of our exact suite online, so, to be honest, we weren't 100% sure what we were getting. But we knew it was going to be compact. In Paris real-estate speak, it's a two-piece apartment. That means there are two rooms: a living/kitchen area and a bedroom. The bedroom is a generous 3m x 3.5m. And the street-facing window has a nice ledge that can be used for doing one's makeup or as a place for brazen pigeons to land.

The bathroom is a good size (about 1.5m x 2m), and there's also a separate water closet (toilet room). These are extremely common throughout Europe no matter how small the apartment might be. In Canada, these are far less common and only really appear in the top-end of the market. I certainly think they're a nice feature, but I personally wouldn't sacrifice in other areas of a small space just to have it.

The kitchen is more of a kitchenette. Its linear dimension is just under 1 meter (or 3'3"). We've made some fairly elaborate meals in this kitchen, but it certainly requires some jockeying around. It's nice not having to eat every meal out, especially if you're also trying to work.

Opposite the kitchen is banquette seating and a table for everything. It's the dining table, the work table, and the kitchen prep table. It also folds up against the wall if you'd like to have exactly one incremental person come over and sit in this room. Outside of the kitchen/living area is the building's courtyard (see here for plans of the building).

For those of you who also like to nerd out about dimensions, it's about 5.8m in its longest direction, which means that's the separation distance between our kitchen and our neighbor's bed. So even though this is a small space, it is a dual-aspect apartment. The toilet room also has a window opening up onto this courtyard space.

Finally, the laundry facilities are located in the basement of the building. There are two washing machines and one dryer. We've done multiple loads and they've been great. There's also a small gym on the main floor, which I would add to the list of highly desirable amenities for an aparthotel, or any hotel for that matter.

Overall, we've been very happy with our stay. My only comments would be that a larger living space would be needed for longer stays, there's a surprising lack of conveniently placed outlets in the apartment (one of my part-time jobs is charging devices), and better bathroom products would be a nice upgrade. My wife has taught me that desirable bathroom products, including body lotion, are a huge value-add in hospitality.

If any of you have stayed in a great aparthotel or serviced apartment, please share a link in the comments section below. I am betting that they will only become more common for longer stays, family travel, remote work, and people who are less tethered to one place.

Most global cities now have restrictions, and in some cases an effective ban, on short-term rentals. Here are some examples, along with their annual nightly rental cap as I understand them (and by this, I mean what ChatGPT is telling me):

• Berlin: Secondary residence rentals are limited to 90 days per year

• London: Annual cap of 90 nights

• Mexico City: Annual cap of 180 nights

• New York City: Only host-present stays allowed

• Paris: Annual cap of 120 nights

• Rio de Janeiro: Annual cap of 90 nights

• San Francisco: Annual cap of 90 nights

• Singapore: Minimum stay of 3 months for private properties and 6 months for HDB properties (Singapore's public housing authority)

• Sydney: Annual cap of 180 nights

• Toronto: Annual cap of 180 nights

These rules and caps will have nuances to them. Like if you want to rent your place on the third Tuesday of a month and your property faces west and has a view of an outdoor terrace with no more than 6 brass bistro tables, you probably require a special license. Okay, this isn't true. But broadly speaking, most cities now have strict caps in the range of 90-180 nights and differentiate between whole-home rentals and host-present stays.

What this, of course, means is that most big cities don't want people operating short-term rentals as a business. They'd like hosts to be people who maybe rent out their place while they're away on vacation and/or offer up an extra room when some conference or event is taking place in town. In other words, cities do not want short-term rentals to negatively impact their supply of long-term rentals.

It's no wonder that Airbnb is investing heavily in both its "experiences" and "services." It has to do this because its core "homes" business is facing significant regulatory headwinds. But what this also means is that the hospitality industry is now shifting toward other solutions — things like aparthotels/serviced apartments. These are purpose-built solutions that typically require commercial zoning.

Globally, the aparthotel segment is expected to be the fastest-growing subset in commercial lodging for the remainder of this decade. And that makes sense. With STR regulations only becoming more stringent and with the continued rise of digital nomadism, the demand for this kind of apartment-like product is going to need to be satisfied in other ways.

There's clearly a market for kitchens, washing machines, and a bit more space.

Cover photo by Aquilion Property on Unsplash

These are photos of the Blue House — and its siting — in the civil parish of Capelas on the island of São Miguel. Designed by the Portuguese firm Atelier Backlar, the house was completed in 2023 and now serves as a popular short-term rental in the Azores. If you'd like to take a look inside and/or book it, here's the Airbnb listing. Right now it's going for over C$1k per night.

But what's even more interesting about this property is that it once belonged to Bianca's maternal great-grandparents. Her great grandfather was a whaler and so its location on the water beside the Porto das Capelas was naturally ideal for days in the office. This is also where Bianca's grandmother lived prior to emigrating to Toronto in the 60s.

Like a lot of real estate, there's an emotion-filled story that explains why it's no longer in the family. But I do think it's nice that the architects chose to preserve some of the existing walls of the previous house (which they describe as an abandoned ruin on their website). I also think it's cool that it has become one of the most noteworthy examples of modern architecture on the island.

Let's call this the second-best outcome.