UK: Developer Southern Grove has revealed details of its first autonomous aparthotel, where guests are able to book online, receive a code and access their stay without human interaction.
The £5 million scheme, called The Workshops, in Sheffield, is an offshoot of a student accommodation scheme built on the same site as a building by the developer’s sister company Future Generation.
It will add 19 self-contained serviced apartments to Steel City’s 324 student rooms, and will be let under Southern Grove’s hospitality division.
During term time, the apartments on the city’s Garden Street, will mainly be used by parents and friends visiting student tenants.
The project is designed by Axis Architecture. Southern Grove will shortly begin tendering for a construction contractor.
“The irony of unveiling an apartment block halfway through a pandemic, where guests don’t have to see anyone else, hasn’t escaped us,” said Andrew Southern, chairman of Southern Grove and Future Generation. “Clearly, social distancing wasn’t what we had in mind when we conceived of The Workshops, but these units do operate almost independently. They are completely self-contained and can be accessed by guests without any human interaction.”
“A lot of people realise they pay a hefty fee to stay in city centre hotels and are aware that much of that cash is being used to pay staff, when they barely spend any time there. We think this is part of a bigger trend towards better value accommodation where money isn’t wasted on things guests don’t want,” he added.
The third phase of Steel City — which will mark the completion of the £35 million development — has no staff and the only visitors, besides guests, will be cleaners.
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