Serviced apartment in Zurich: what is behind it and where it becomes delicate in zoning terms
The word sounds like better fittings. Legally, though, it describes the services around them — and those are what can turn living into accommodation.
What is a serviced apartment?
A serviced apartment is a furnished flat let with hotel-like services: cleaning during the stay, changes of linen, a reception or concierge. It is aimed mainly at business travellers with stays of weeks to months. The more of these services are added, the more likely the use counts as accommodation rather than living under building law.
It is not the fittings that define it, but the service
The term is not protected and is used for very different things — from a furnished two-room flat with weekly cleaning to an apartment building with a reception. What appears in every version are services going beyond handing over the flat.
That is where it becomes legally interesting. Letting a flat is residential use. Letting a flat with cleaning, linen and a reception moves towards accommodation, and accommodation is not readily permitted in a residential zone.
Exactly where the line runs is decided by the building authority case by case. What can be said: the more services, the shorter the stays and the less the flat is otherwise lived in, the more the assessment tends towards accommodation.
Who it pays off for
Demand in Zurich comes from staff posted by international firms, project workers, visiting doctors and guest lecturers. A large part runs through relocation services looking for accommodation on behalf of their clients — a channel that has nothing to do with an Airbnb listing.
Economically it sits between short-term letting and fixed-term tenancy: fewer changeovers than with nightly guests, higher returns than unfurnished long-term letting, but ongoing services that tie up staff. There are no solid figures for Zurich — no survey exists for furnished rents, only asking prices on the portals.
We operate short-term and holiday letting, not serviced apartments with ongoing care during the stay. That is here because this page would otherwise promise something we do not deliver.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a serviced apartment and an Airbnb flat?
- The services during the stay. In an Airbnb flat, cleaning happens between guests; in a serviced apartment somebody comes during the stay, changes the linen and cleans. A reception or concierge is often added. The length of stay differs too: Airbnb in Zurich averages around three nights, serviced apartments weeks to months.
- Does a serviced apartment need a permit?
- Possibly, and that is the real risk of this model. The more hotel-like services are added, the more likely the building authority judges the use to be accommodation rather than living — and accommodation is not readily permitted in a residential zone. Where the line runs is decided case by case. Binding information comes from your municipal building authority; we do not advise on permit questions.
- What does a serviced apartment yield in Zurich?
- There is no solid figure. The Zurich rent survey covers unfurnished flats; for furnished or serviced letting no corresponding survey exists in the canton. What exists are asking prices on the portals — and an asking price is not a conclusion. What remains after furnishing, ongoing service and vacancy between two tenants is not stated there.
- Does alphakey operate serviced apartments?
- No. We run short-term and holiday letting as a co-host on Airbnb and Booking.com — listing, pricing, guest communication, cleaning between stays and accounting. Ongoing care during a stay, reception and concierge are not part of it.
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