Your travel policy probably doesn't cover apartments yet

A travel policy that says 'hotels up to £X a night' falls apart the first time someone is sent to London for six weeks. Serviced apartments need their own lines covering when they apply, what they can cost, who books them and what the company expects of the building, and if you work in HR or travel management these are the ones worth writing.

When apartments apply, and what they can cost

The simplest trigger is length of stay. A version that works allows apartments from about a week and makes them the default beyond three, when a kitchen and a washing machine matter more to the traveller than a restaurant downstairs. Add a second trigger for group trips, since two colleagues on the same project can share a two-bedroom, and most residences have them; price that against two hotel rooms rather than assuming which way it will fall.

One cap for every city will be wrong for central London. Across the residences we list that publish a starting price, the typical figure is about £270 a night, and the spread from cheapest to dearest is wide. Starting prices are for the smallest apartment, so set caps by size as well as by city, and judge the monthly rate for long stays on its own terms instead of dividing it back into nights and holding it to the hotel cap.

Duty of care: what to require of the building

Set minimum standards and let the traveller choose within them. For a London apartment, these are the ones that earn their place.

• A contact at the residence who can be reached 24 hours a day
• A stated process for reporting and fixing maintenance faults
• Staffed reception, or a clear arrangement for late key collection
• Air conditioning for summer stays if the role involves working from the apartment
• The address and a phone number lodged with the travel team before arrival
• Cancellation and extension terms in writing before payment

Families, bookers and the one-page rule

Secondments of three months or more often bring a partner or children along. Write down whether the company pays for a bigger apartment once the family joins, and from which date, because it's much easier to set the rule now than to negotiate it with a homesick employee in week five; larger places aren't hard to find, as plenty of residences do three bedrooms. Cap the temporary housing at, say, 60 or 90 days with an extension on approval, so temporary doesn't quietly become permanent, and state who pays for any overlap between the apartment and a long-term let.

Decide who makes the booking: the traveller, a PA, the travel team or a travel management company. Residences found on London Residency get the request direct, and the company then books and pays the residence itself, so the policy has to allow direct payment by company card or invoice where the travel management route doesn't cover it. For buildings you use more than once, ask for invoices in the company's name and whether there's a rate for regular bookings, and keep a named contact in the reservations team.

Travellers read the policy when they need it, which is usually the night before they book. Keep the apartment rules to one page with the trigger lengths, caps by size, the standards list and who to call when something goes wrong. Add a line telling travellers to check cleaning and laundry rather than expect a hotel routine, as only a minority of residences mention maid service or laundry and the arrangements vary more than most people expect.

After the first few stays, ask travellers at checkout what was missing and what they would change. Their answers will sharpen the policy faster than any benchmark, and a running note of which buildings worked becomes your preferred list within a year.