"Your home away from home" is a tag line many hotels still use to market their properties. It is an idea meant to instill a sense of comfort, friendliness, familiarity and security.

The problem with the "home away from home" concept is that a hotel is a business and its accommodations can never really be called 'home.' After all, a hotel room is just a room, which comes with different price tags depending on services and facilities.

For most folk, however, these services and facilities are not what they would be used to at home like 24-hour room service, Jacuzzis in the bathroom and express laundry and they are delivered in such a way that very few can honestly say is familiar outside of the hotel environment, and it is something you, the guest, pays for even if you choose not use it.

There is, however, something happily occupying the middle ground and it is a growing trend in Bali's property and hospitality space according to Angra Angreni, Assistant Manager at Coldwell Banker.

In a recent article with Bisnis Bali, Angra said more tourists and many migrant workers are choosing the guesthouse option over hotels because they are less fancy, have familiar facilities like kitchens and easy parking and are considerably cheaper. And this is a great opportunity for property investors.

According to Angra, serviced apartments are also tuning in to this growing market because they offer both short and long term options, something that hotels struggle being competitive with.

He noted monthly occupancy rates of serviced apartments and guesthouses in popular locations such as Kuta, can reach between 75% - 80%, even though they do not offer hotel standard quality or facilities. These are occupancy numbers hotels in the area would happily be recording.

"Occupancy rates are so high because, people can stay for longer periods at more affordable prices," Angra said, adding prices ranged from IDR 450,000 to IDR 700,000 for one-bedroom and superior types. In addition online platforms such as Airbnb provide more options to choose from.

Property investors should note that although the business opportunity is certainly there, especially as Bali's tourism industry is aiming for ever greater numbers of visitors, all necessary licenses to operate must be in place. The local government, especially in Badung where most of Bali's visitors currently head for, is targeting unlicensed operators who do not have the correct licenses and who fail to pay the required taxes.

Source: Bisnis Bali

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