Travel anxiety is something often spoken about, especially when travelling to Africa. Furthermore, the COVID-19 panic has heightened travel anxiety. Simply put, travel anxiety is the fear of travelling to an unfamiliar place. This causes an individual to feel stressed or depressed when travelling to a new place. These symptoms manifest into the physical body causing nausea, chest palpitations, restlessness, panic attacks and insomnia.

There is a perceived risk of Africa as a continent with pervasive chaos and conflict. We as tourism and global mobility experts understand this risk perception of safety and security. We work tirelessly to ensure our clients are at ease.  The best way to deal with travel anxiety is to assess potential risks, directly address your concerns with your travel and accommodation agent and make decisions accordingly.

As travel and accommodation experts, we must evade this perceived risk by not trying to evade questions but by addressing the concerns and modifying travel behaviour. The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders writes a wonderful article on ways to overcome travel anxiety to make you feel in control.  Here are a few tips:

1. Improve your coping skills and coping mechanisms.
2. Practice relaxation techniques before your trip.
3. Travel with a companion who is an experienced flyer.

Here is what MyResidence does to make you feel in control: Earlier this year, we sent our property partners a letter introducing stricter vetting guidelines and forms to ensure that they are following our standards. MyResidence independently vets all their accommodation. In our article called The Importance of Accommodation Vetting, we state: “MyResidence has a comprehensive and systematic vetting process. From the initial stages, internal vetting between MyResidence and prospective property partners, right through to training our field agents to conduct comprehensive physical vetting in each city in Africa. They are trained and equipped with tools in examining apartment amenities, their structure, conditions, and submitting a full report to us. This report is inclusive of a completed report, a scorecard, and pictures.”

If you are worried about contact at our many different destinations, do not fear. We have on-the-ground field agents in all our countries who will be ready to help you with anything you need. Our staff is trained and equipped to deal with any problem you are facing.

We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened travel anxiety amongst international travellers. MyResidence has taken steps to ensure our properties are following the necessary international guidelines and protocols required for COVID-19 compliance.  All our staff have been adequately equipped with Covid-19 training and COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Temperature checking and strict COVID-19 Risk assessment forms are employed to manage risk transmission.

We are always open to communicate and best help you through your travel anxiety. Your concerns are valid. Your feelings are valid. MyResidence does its utmost best to ensure your safety and health is our top priority.

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INVEST IN MORE SPACE

Serviced apartments are generally 30% bigger than hotel rooms, therefore more value or in this case, space for your money. You no longer have to eat and sleep on your bed. In a serviced apartment, there is additional space for smaller furnishings like coffee tables and chairs to dine at.

ROOM FOR FLEXIBILITY

Enjoy the flexibility of being able to do laundry while your cottage pie is in the oven and you are taking a shower. You no longer have to adhere to ‘breakfast times’ or opting to order at restaurants. Cost-effective and convenient. Furthermore, this is the perfect advantage for individuals with strict dietary requirements.

FACILITIES

Serviced apartments have dishwashers which means you can clean after yourself at any time and at your convenience. Secondly, most serviced apartments have washing machines and tumble driers. This saves you spending costs on laundry services. Hotels often advertise free WiFi but are often restricted to a certain amount of time before paying additional costs. The other downside is that the free WiFi is often overcrowded and slow.  The majority of serviced apartments have free WiFi, some even offer rental of office equipment such as printers and scanners.

LENGTH OF STAY

Hotels are meant for shorter stays whereas serviced apartments are geared towards stays for over a month or longer. It is difficult to stay in a hotel over an extended period without a kitchen or laundry facilities. Serviced apartments have all the facilities to make your space into your home.

COST-EFFECTIVE

Serviced apartments charge per apartment, not per person per night. You save on room service and dining out, there are also no ‘hidden extras’. You save on exorbitant hotel restaurant and fast-food order costs. You save on hotel laundry services. The cost of staying at these serviced apartments can be often 25-30% lesser than staying at hotels. You can choose to rent the serviced apartments for a day, or even on a monthly basis. The rates can be fixed on daily, weekly, monthly or even much longer periods.

The post Serviced Apartments versus Hotels appeared first on My Residence Africa.

In the temporary serviced accommodation industry, vetting is a detailed and systematic assessment of an apartment. Vetting is inspecting the property’s design, structures, amenities, and condition – measuring its proximity to its advertised description. Vetting is NOT simply verifying an apartment or an area online or via phone calls. It is a detailed and thorough process that most companies do not seek to do, often misleading potential clients.

We have all heard those stories where you scroll the internet in search of the perfect house, you click on it and the pictures look stunning. Top tier décor, great neighbourhood, working Wi-Fi, all is there. You click ‘BOOK”, secure payment and get excited about your new home. You arrive, and it looks nothing like the pictures you have seen. You have been scammed. And it is at this moment, you realise the importance of vetting.

Understanding the importance of vetting, MyResidence has a comprehensive and systematic vetting process. From the initial stages, internal vetting between My Residence and prospective property partners, right through to training our field agents to conduct comprehensive physical vetting in each city in Africa. They are trained and equipped with tools in examining apartment amenities, their structure, conditions, and submitting a full report to us. This report is inclusive of a completed report, a scorecard and pictures.

Having field agents conducting these vetting assessments in these cities is our unique selling point. Many companies or agencies that offer temporary serviced accommodation are not even based in Africa nor the cities. Online entities do not properly vet their properties. There is no assurance to the guest whatsoever that what they are paying for and expect to see is in fact real, up to the marketed standard etc. Because online portals are not “human”, there is room for a lot of error in respect of their stock, and there is room for fraudulent entries. MyResidence has independent agents who have years of experience in the relocation and mobility industry to uphold our reputation.

Our Client Services Coordinator and Legal Specialist, Tanja Glatz, speaks about the crucial phases in our vetting process:

1. The Initial Search: This is reviewing the property online and establishing communication with the property owner.

2. Paperwork: We dispatch comprehensive paperwork for completion.

3. Physical vetting by our local field agents: The agent receives our mandate, a form to complete and several instructions on the execution of the vetting. They attend the property, meet the staff, assess all areas of the premises, test Wi-Fi, test the staff and the problem-solving skills, language skills, knowledge of the industry etc.

4. Property Partner: If they have passed the above-mentioned phases, they become a fully verified property partner of ours and receive the appropriate stamp of approval.

It is important to do due diligence when looking for a property. Therefore, it is also important to choose a service provider that does this for you. You save time, stress and being inconvenienced. At MyResidence, we understand the anxiety that comes with relocating or simply visiting a new country. That is why we go the extra mile to ensure that you only get the best accommodation. In recent weeks, we have sent out a new and improved vetting form to our property partners with stricter and heightened measures on our standard operations and practices. We value your health and safety – your happiness is our priority.

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