General Articles

Why It Is Good To Live In A Doorman Apartment Building

Of course not every apartment building has a doorman, but you have to be honest, you love to enter such a building and have the door opened in front of you. It makes you feel rather important, and you would like to benefit from a doorman’s services in your own building.

To make a clearer idea on the importance of having a doorman, here are some interesting aspects of his work. They might help you make an important decision next time you move.

First of all, you should know a doorman always plays a very important role in the safety of the entire building and the safety of those who live there, of course. He can be regarded as a real security person, who is constantly monitoring those who enter the building and those who leave the building.

When someone unexpected decides to drop by, the doorman will be very quick to let you know by making a simple call to your apartment. Thus, you have the possibility of indirectly refusing a visit and therefore use the doorman to screen visitors.

Plus, you can tell a doorman to never allow a certain person to come near your apartment, if you are having problems with someone. You can look at a doorman as a human video surveillance camera, if you wish.

Another great advantage of a doorman is he will always get your mails and deliveries, as they can sign for your packages when you are not home. Additional to all these, a doorman’s job is to pay close attention to all tenants and when he notices something wrong with any of them, he can check on them to ensure they are fine.

Every apartment building has its own set of rules. Some buildings might allow doormen to help tenant with their luggage or shopping bags, call them taxis or even hold items for them until they get back home.

All in all, having a doorman is great. The many advantages cannot lead to anything else but a recommendation for all apartment buildings to have them.…

Choosing a Good Barbados Apartment Hotel

For those who are going on a Barbados vacation, especially those who are going as a family or as a group of friends, it is more than likely that an Apartment hotel shall be the first choice of accommodation. As for this author’s experience in the Caribbean for instance, there were some Barbados apartment hotel accommodations that were good while there were others that were bad. Here are some of the tricks I learned in order to find out which was which in Barbados. But of course not everyone is the same. It all depends on what kind of vacation the vacationer decides.

For the Adventurous Backpackers

In Barbados, the southern part is the best place to get down with the local scene since this place is full of accessible accommodations that are not swanky and that do not have large beach fronts. South of Barbados is also were Oistins is located so this is where the real Bajan beach party is. The adventurous types are the easiest ones to please. Most of these backpackers are either on a budget or are just in it to get the most authentic travel experience that they can get. And to them, authentic means something that is not in the usual tourist packages. These people tend to dislike anywhere that feels too “touristy.” That means that going into swanky hotel resorts is not a real option. For the adventurous type, it would be best to look for accommodations that are near the city. In the southern area, one can find Worthing, St. Lawrence Gap, Hastings, and Silver Sands in Christ Church. It is also were the famous Crane Beach is located. This is why the South Coast Is definitely a whole lot busier and a little bit more fun. Aside from these sites, all the nightclubs, restaurants, and bars are also mostly located in the south. Getting an apartment near the south is important since the inebriated ones would find it easier to get home.

For the Wholesome and the Private

Some families want a safe and wholesome trip for their kids. Some honeymooners prefer to lounge together in romantic but private getaways. It is not so hard to get inexpensive accommodations in the Southern part of Barbados. However, a lot of the apartments there are just concrete buildings without much flair. In the northern area of the island, there are many hotels and beaches that are more or less secluded. However, this is also where the swankiest and therefore the most expensive accommodations would be found. The best thing to do for those who want privacy and relaxation but who also want to save some money is to get accommodations in the north of Barbados but not from a hotel that has a beach front. There are several charming Barbados apartment hotel accommodation that are ten to five minutes away from the beach by foot. These might be the best choice for those who want privacy. …

The Home Search – Stay True To Yourself!

A true story of a costly mistake we made while undergoing a home search for a rental and the lessons learned that by spending more time “in advance,” could have saved a year of anguish!

We moved out of our own single family home into another state and of course wanted/needed the extra space and privacy that you get with a home vs. apartment. We have children and are outdoorsy and very social people so this is where it gets really bizarre… Our home search took us down the wrong path and the area we decided to rent in is very competitive and we put in several offers and got caught up in some glorified home on a hill with a city view.

Yes, we rented the home at the top of a hill on a cliff, with zero yard space and zero neighbors. The home is really nice and all and our house guests are impressed, but the home was a complete mismatch of the lifestyle that we were accustomed to, and we totally forgot who we were.

We totally forgot who we were…

The street we now live off of is like a scenic byway and there’s tons of traffic traveling by daily. The kids have nowhere to play, we have no yard to BBQ and soak up the sun. Nowhere to spread out and we still have 7 more months left to go…

The conclusion; I think its OK to venture out a little, but we got way too far out of our comfort zone and a year lease is a long time to suffer because of our lack of good judgement, laziness, our identity crisis, and any combination thereof.

The lesson; Budget all the time you need and make a “punch list” of what you love/despise and stay TRUE to yourselves or you may fall into the trap that we did and deeply regret it. It seems simple but trust me, its easy to lose focus. Lesson learned!

Stay TRUE to yourself.

We are real people with real life situations. I won’t lecture about the importance of renters insurance, and we do not subscribe to any specific company. This is just another dose of reality that can sneak up on you.

A colleague of mine lost it all and then some because of an innocent mistake. “My dog knocked over my halogen floor lamp” and I not only lost my best friend, I lost my life savings and more.

Please visit for a dose of reality when bad things happen to good people.…

What Are Serviced Apartments and Corporate Housing Apartments?

The term ‘Serviced Apartments’ refers to fully furnished apartments that are available on rent either as short term or long term accommodation. The earliest serviced apartments started out in the USA and the concept became an instant hit amongst business travelers. Those who had to stay in new cities away from home for lengthy periods of time found that they could save a lot of money by renting a serviced apartment instead of staying at a hotel. The popularity of serviced apartments grew exponentially over the years and today this concept is an established and well recognized vertical of the hospitality industry the world over.

Serviced Apartments offer you the kind of flexibility, economy and extended stays that hotels can’t provide by any length of imagination. Though the hotel industry has a unique customer base and its own advantages, the serviced apartment industry has carved a niche segment of its own. Hotels are still the ideal choice for short stay travelers. With restaurant, pools, bars and various other facilities, hotels have an edge in wooing the short stay crowd. The apartments however are in a league of their own when it comes to offering convenience and value for money.

There are a few exclusive serviced apartment chains that would put even the most expensive hotels to shame. But mostly, the apartments are no frills living spaces that provide practicality and comfortable stays at considerably lesser costs. These days most of such accommodation have started looking like hotels with receptions, room service, etc. However, the basic concept of flexibility still remains. The highlight of such apartments is that they are available for long term stays. By definition hotels can turn out to be extremely expensive for long stays, but the apartments can rent you a fully furnished room or an entire apartment for long stays at very reasonable prices.

Serviced apartments like to position themselves as a ‘home away from home’. Indeed, their most appealing proposition is the prospect of living in a fully furnished apartment with all the facilities you would have at home. Your get your own kitchen, your own clothes iron and various other simple things which make you feel quite at home. There are many kinds of such apartments, but the most common types are the apart-hotels and corporate housing. Apart hotels are regular serviced apartments that function just like regular hotels except that they don’t offer facilities like restaurants or bars.

Corporate housing apartments are large residential blocks that are rented on the whole and converted into serviced apartments that offer all basic facilities like laundry, internet access etc. The only complexity involved with staying at such an apartment is the booking process. The process is not as straightforward as is the case with hotels. Generally, an agent can get you the best rates with diligent negotiation. Even then you may have to pay a large security deposit for longer stays. In spite of these minor drawbacks, such …

The Cheapest Way to Travel to Paris – Know Your Options

Over the past three decades, I have traveled to Paris, France several times. During that time, many American friends have commented that their own experiences in Paris were disappointing but personally I have always found Paris to be one of the greatest destinations of my life. The two most common complaints have been the attitude of the locals and the cost of staying in Paris. As with visiting any culture, taking an interest in others solves the first issue, the second issue takes a little research but is easily solved through the Internet.

When viewing any large city for a vacation, the first thing a traveler should do is set their expectations at a reasonable level. All too often people hear about celebrities who have stayed in an expensive hotel along the Champs-?�lys?�es or overlooking the Eiffel Tower. These stays are often romanticized by movies and television shows, but the reality is this, ‘How much time do you plan to spend in a small hotel room verses being out and about seeing the sights of the city?’

Try Renting an Apartment

Hotels in Paris, like many large cities, can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars per night for a room that sleeps two. With a small shift in the planning process it is easy to find whole apartments at a fraction of these prices in far better locations. The best part is that the savings in nightly rates is just the beginning of the budget travelers epiphany.

To find the right place for your own vacation you may need to search several sites that advertise these types of rentals. There are dozens of sites that serve as central listing sites organized by destination, price and amenity, but do not stop there. Most popular destinations are home to dozens of competing property management companies that promote even more properties on their own web site. My family’s last visit to Paris involved comparing hundreds of rentals on two dozen web sites. Ultimately, lodging cost about $115 (US) per night for a roomy one bedroom apartment in Montmartre that is literally surrounded by the artistic heritage of Paris.

Secondary Savings While Renting an Apartment

This turned out to be only the beginning of the savings! The apartment, located in a residential part of the city, is less than a block from a green grocer, wine shop, patisserie (great for breakfast on the go and snacks) and much more. In a city whose restaurants can easily cost $20-100 (US) per meal, picking up something that can be prepared in your own kitchen for less than $3 (US) per person will leave so much more in the budget for enjoying the rest of the city. As a family of four we found it best to eat breakfast at home, picnic for lunch and have one meal out per day but about half of those evening meals still ended up cheap back in the apartment.…

Differences Between an Apartment and a Flat

Apartment and Flat are both terms used for a self-sufficient housing entity, a type of residential real estate that occupies only part of a building. An ‘apartment’ is a term used in the American English when the term ‘flat’ is widely used in British.

However, most commonwealth nations are also found using the word- flat for spaces to live.

Focussing apartments on a wider perspective, we will need to pass by the lifestyle of the United States and the Canada. Here, most apartments are buildings designed for the purpose, but you will be able to find large older houses also that are perfectly divided into apartments. As we know that the word apartment connotes a residential unit or section in a building, in some major locations in the United States, the word denotes a rental unit owned by the building owner itself, and is not typically used for a condominium.

As far as flats are concerned, the lifestyle of UK needs to be discussed which is of prominence. In the UK, it is widely seen that some flat owners own a share in the company that owns the freehold of the building. This is commonly known as a “share of freehold” flat. The freehold company has the right to collect annual ground rents from each of the flat owners in the building. The freeholder can also develop or sell the building, subject to the usual planning and restrictions that might apply.

Now, when we focus on the lifestyle apart from US and UK, it is found that the word ‘unit’ is a more general term referring to either apartments or flats. In Australia, a unit refers to flats, apartments or even semi-detached houses. Some buildings can be characterised as mixed use buildings, meaning part of the building is for commercial, business, or office use, usually on the first floor or first couple floors, and there are one or more apartments in the rest of the building, usually on the upper floors.

Perhaps in Malaysia, the term flat in English, often denotes a housing block of lesser quality meant for lower-income groups, whilst apartments are more commonly used word that denotes a quality place to live. Often, this may also include luxury condominiums.

To the matter of fact, though the name differs according to places, the idea behind an apartment or a flat remains the same as spaces meant for living which literally we call after- Home.…

Apartment Investing – The Most Important 8 Words For 2012

If you are like most people this time of year, you are getting ready for parties, eating some food, having a few drinks, and celebrating the New Year. Then comes the hangover!

Look, I too am going to enjoy ringing in the New Year…

However – this is the time of year when I get very serious about setting some goals for the coming few months and for 2012. In fact, I love this time of year because it allows us to “reboot” and get off to a “fresh start”. And the most successful apartment investors I know do the same thing.

Listen, if you are not where you want to be in terms of:

– Financially

– Fitness

– Health

– Spiritually

– Personally

– Etc.

You get the picture…

If you are not at a place that you want to be right now, really in any area of your life (of course we talk a lot about money here and investment real estate which is important but not the only thing) I want to give you the most important 8 words that will get you where you want to go…Really! Here they are:

“What Are You Going To Do About It?”

You see, I have zero respect for people that complain about whatever “problem” or “issue” they have and then do not do a doggone thing about it. They just complain!

For example. I have some relatives that will be visiting us over the weekend and they will whine and moan about not having enough money to do “X” and/or they cannot do some things they really wish they could do because they cannot afford it. They will complain about it and my eyes will glaze over… AGAIN!

Why?

Because they will never do anything about it. You see what separates you from the thousands of others that will be reading this today is whether you actually do something about any circumstances that you are not happy with. Or just complain about it.

Are you really ready to play the game or just sit on the sidelines and watch and complain?

It REALLY comes down to that.

I guarantee you that the people that will be financially successful in 2012 are the people that are doing something about it. By the way, when I say doing something I mean taking action, buying a book and reading it is a step in the right direction but it is true ACTION that gets you from “dissatisfied” to “doing something about it”.

Take the next few days and do some personal reflection. Where are you – REALLY? Are you just complaining and in the end that is all you will do OR are you the type of person that is going to do something about it?

The answer to this question is revealing and frankly tells you what you can expect in your financial life and life in general.…

Some Unique Facilities Of An Amsterdam Apartment Rental

Amsterdam is a huge city in a small country. About 750,000 people stay here and 3.5 million visitors come to this country every year for various purposes. There are many apartments in this city to provide accommodation to these tourists. These places of stay have become very popular in the recent years. Tourists usually book these short stay accommodations when visiting Amsterdam. So if you are looking for an affordable and comfortable accommodation, Amsterdam apartment rental must be your choice.

You can find a wide range of these short stay accommodations matching your taste. These places of stay are stylishly furnished and have everything that tourists require. They have become a much preferred option for short stays in comparison to hotels. A huge number of tourists are booking their stay in these Amsterdam apartments.

Various unique facilities are provided by these lodgings. The first and foremost facility that is attracting a large number of tourists to these accommodation places is their cooking provision. The kitchen is fully equipped. Tourists can prepare their own meals on their own schedule. This means if you want to have breakfast at mid-day, you can do so. Moreover preparing the meal in the apartment is surely a much reasonable option than buying food from hotels or taking meals from outside.

Then again, these apartments are located in the most important areas in the capital city of Netherlands. This means by staying here some of the most popular tourist spots and entertainment venues can be at an accessible distance.

You can even get more living space for a much lesser rate than a hotel if you rent apartment in Amsterdam. When renting an apartment you can enjoy the freedom of staying in a full apartment with a bathroom, living room, bedrooms as well as a kitchen. You can even enjoy privacy in these short stay accommodations.

Booking for an Amsterdam apartment rental means you can determine your own time for going to bed, eating your breakfast, getting up in the morning and going out at night. Most of the hotels are usually very strict with their regulations and do not allow their guests to enjoy their stay to the fullest.

Stylishly decorated with flat screen TV, chairs, bar table, comfortable couch and many more things, these apartments offer a touch of class and sophistication. Some of these short stay apartments even provide tea/coffee making facilities, elevators, phone, dryer, private bathroom and internet broadband connection.…

A Compact Kitchen Can Be Efficient, Elegant and Inviting

Utilize Space Function is first.

Every kitchen requires room for food preparation, while some may also serve as dining areas. Whatever your needs may be, these tips can help.

Fill your space with mobile furniture that will not interfere with cooking.

A folding drop table and wheeled serving cart will stay out of the way until

you choose to use them.

Take advantage of vertical space by installing wall cabinets that extend

towards the ceiling. Using consistent colors will prevent you from a closed-in

look.

Keep pots and pans on a hanging rack instead of inside cabinets. You will

open storage for other items while creating a professional restaurant look.

Store less commonly used appliances (such as fondue pots and bread makers)

outside of the kitchen.

Consider a compact all-in-one pre-manufactured kitchen. These come as one

unit prebuilt. They include the most common kitchen elements such as a sink,

cooktop, refrigerator and counter top. Some will have options for storage area

such as shelving for peripheral appliances (microwave ovens).

Create an Illusion

Now that you have made the most of your space, the next step is to make it seem like you have more.

Recessed lighting will make a space appear larger than it is.

Keep the floor color similar to cabinets and appliances to make space seem

wider.

Make sure the flooring and wall design smoothly transition into the next

room to avoid a choppy look.

Choose sleek furniture that lets light shine through and brighten the kitchen.

Celebrate Your Style

There is no place like home, and no place that feels more like home than your kitchen. No matter how tight your space may be, there is always room for personal refinement.

Match your oven mitts and towels to your kitchen design for style that serves

a purpose.

Hang decorative mugs on a rack for a display that frees cabinet space for

other items.

Use matching utensils for a cleaner look that does not feel cluttered. …