You are under pressure to keep projects on track, hit deadlines, and keep your team happy away from home. Accommodation can either support that or quietly wreck it.
Most guides repeat the same three points: location, amenities, and cost. Useful, but not enough.
You need a clear way to choose the right place for real people, on real projects, with real budget limits.
This blog is for you. It is built for contractors, project managers, and companies booking workforce stays across the UK, which is exactly who HMH Stays serves.
You will see what to check, what to avoid, and how to brief a provider so your team lands in the right property the first time, whether you need short or long-term accommodation for contractors or a full crew.
1. Start With Your Project, Not the Property
Before you search for a long-term hotel, serviced apartment, or shared house, get clear on your project shape. Every smart decision flow from this.
Most competitors jump straight to locations and room types but you will get better results if you step back first.
1.1 Duration, phases, and uncertainty
Write down three things:
- Minimum confirmed duration
- Likely extension
- Worst-case scenario if things overrun
A three-week installation needs a different approach from a twelve-month framework with unknown end dates. For shorter jobs, a short-term hotel stay or aparthotel might work. For anything beyond a few weeks, you want something closer to home, like serviced apartments, long stay, or a crew house.
Ask yourself:
- Will the team size rise or fall over time?
- Are there clear phase dates, or is it fluid?
- How hard is it to rehouse people locally if dates slip?
Being honest here avoids you rushing into a month-long hotel stay and then trying to stretch it into six months at an unsuitable rate.
1.2 Team size, mix, and shift patterns
Next, map your people. Not just “10 workers”.
Note:
- Number of people
- Roles and pay grades
- Gender mix
- Shift pattern (days, nights, rotating)
This is where most content on staff housing goes quiet. It talks about comfort in general, but not about the reality of night shifts, different pay grades, sharing, or mixed crews.
For example:
- Night shift teams need dark, quiet rooms and strict house rules
- Senior staff may need their own rooms for confidential calls.
- Mixed gender teams often prefer more bathrooms and stronger privacy.
Bring this to your provider. A good partner will translate it into the right mix of rooms and properties.
2. Location That Works In Real Life, Not Just On A Map
Location is vital. It focuses on distance to site, transport, and local services, which is correct. You just need to push further.
2.1 Commute time, traffic, and parking
A 5-mile drive can be 15 minutes or 55 minutes, depending on local routes. Combine Google Maps, local knowledge, and your provider’s experience.
Think about:
- Peak traffic on routes to the site
- Access for vans, HGVs, or specialist vehicles
- Safe, off-street parking
This is where random searches like hotel long stay near me or long-term places to stay near me can mislead you. A hotel might look close, but with no parking and a bottleneck road, it becomes a daily headache.
When you work with HMH Stays, you are tapping into a network already used for contractors in places like Hull, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and more. That saves you from guessing from a map.
2.2 Safety, amenities, and local life
Do a quick checklist for each option:
- Is the area safe to walk after shifts?
- Are there supermarkets, takeaways, and gyms nearby?
- Is public transport available for those without vehicles?
Many big-name providers mention safety, but rarely give you a structure to assess it. You can keep it simple.
Ask:
- Would I be happy for my own family to walk here at night?
- Are there any recent issues the provider is aware of?
- Does the team have somewhere decent to unwind?
The goal is not a luxury postcode. It is a solid, sensible area that supports day-to-day life.
3. Choose The Right Type Of Stay For The Job
Your team does not need the same thing as a solo business traveller. Most people in your position still start with hotel searches like cheap extended stay hotel near me or monthly hotel rentals near me out of habit.
The better question is: which structure supports this project best?
3.1 Hotels vs long stay accommodation vs serviced houses
Use this simple comparison.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
| Standard hotel / short-term hotel stay | 1–3 night visits, solo stays | No kitchen, little space, high cost in the long term |
| extended stay hotel rooms/aparthotel | 1–4 weeks, smaller teams | Limited living space, still hotel style |
| long-term serviced apartments | Weeks to months, 1–4 people | Check laundry, parking, WiFi, and cleaning schedule |
| Shared houses/crew homes | Multi-month projects, larger teams | Need clear rules, good management, suitable layout |
| long-term hotel accommodation | When policy demands hotels, but for longer stays | You must chase a hotel’s long-term stay discount |
Many corporate policies default to hotels. That made sense when trips were short. For longer stays, serviced houses and apartments nearly always win on cost per head, comfort, and morale.
3.2 When to still use a long-term hotel stay
Sometimes you must keep everyone in a hotel:
- Strict travel policy
- Specific loyalty programme rules
- Remote area with limited stock
In that case, look for:
- Rooms with kitchenettes or an extended stay hotel with a kitchen
- Negotiated a hotel long-term stay discount
- Block-booked floors so your team is together.
If you reach the point where you are trying to live out a hotel monthly stay for more than a couple of months, it is worth reviewing whether a serviced solution would serve your team better.
4. Cost, Value, And The Hidden Line Items
Almost every competitor talks about “saving 30 to 40% versus hotels” or controlling costs.
They are right, but they often stay at the headline level. You need to think project total, not just the rate per night.
4.1 Compare nightly rates to real project spend
When you compare a hotel per month to a serviced house, add every line you actually pay:
- Accommodation
- Breakfast and evening meals
- Laundry
- Parking
- Extra travel time if you are further from the site
A good long-term stay accommodation option might look slightly higher on paper than a cheap hotel, but if workers cook at home, share a property, and walk to the site, their real spend drops.
Ask providers to quote in a way that finance can digest:
- Per night per person
- Total per week for the crew
- Any setup or cleaning fees
4.2 Spot and avoid false economy
The cheapest option on the spreadsheet can cost the most overall.
Signs you are looking at a false economy:
- Very low nightly rate, but no WiFi, no laundry, limited heating
- Long travel distances are eating into paid hours.
- Properties so cramped that people start going home early or refusing the job
If a cheap long-term hotel or budget room-only place pushes your team to eat out every meal, your food expenses explode. If the accommodation is miserable, staff churn rises and productivity falls, which competitors rarely mention clearly, even though it is one of the highest hidden costs.
5. Comfort, Wellbeing, And Sleep Quality
Most marketing talks about “home from home” comfort. Few spell out what that really means when your team lives somewhere for months.
This is your chance to protect morale and performance.
5.1 Bedrooms, bathrooms, and privacy
Set a standard before you start:
- Max two people per bathroom
- No one is sleeping in living rooms.
- Private rooms for supervisors, managers, or anyone on call
In larger crews, the mix of personalities matters. Think about:
- Snorers, early risers, and night owls
- Smokers vs non-smokers
- Who needs absolute quiet?
These details rarely appear in online checklists, but they make or break a stay. Your provider cannot guess this. Tell them.
5.2 Space to cook, work, and switch off
For stays beyond a couple of nights, people need control over food and space.
Look for:
- Proper kitchen with fridge, oven, hob, and decent pans
- Table or desk space with good light and WiFi
- A living area that fits the whole team staying there
This is where an extended stay hotel with kitchenette options falls between a hotel and an apartment. They can work well for small teams, but once you have four or six people, a full house or long-term stay apartment with a real kitchen tends to win.
If you are booking through HMH Stays, you can specify these requirements up front and expect options that already match what real crews actually need.
6. Safety, Standards, And Duty Of Care
Competitor content usually lists safety as a bullet point. It deserves more than that. As an employer, you carry a duty of care for staff you send away.
6.1 Basic property safety
At minimum, expect:
- Working smoke alarms on each floor
- Clear fire exits and instructions
- Recent gas and electrical safety checks
- Secure locks on doors and windows
Ask your provider:
- Who checks these, and how often
- What happens if there is a safety issue mid-stay
- Whether properties meet local licensing rules, where applicable
Providers focused on workforce housing, like HMH Stays, typically vet hosts and properties to a set standard and keep ongoing relationships, which gives you more confidence than booking random one-off places online.
6.2 Area safety and incident handling
Property safety is one side. Area safety is the other.
Ask for an honest view of the area, especially if you are not local. Questions to ask:
- Any recent safety concerns guests have raised
- Lighting on the street and around the property
- How keys and access are managed
Also check:
- 24/7 emergency contact number
- Clear process for reporting issues
- Who speaks directly with your team if something goes wrong
This is where a generic platform falls short. A specialist team provider will have people and processes in place to respond quickly if your team needs help.
7. Flexibility When Projects Move
Every construction or rollout project booker knows one truth: dates shift. One survery mention flexible terms, but often only on a surface level.
You need to know exactly how that flexibility works.
7.1 Extending long-term temporary housing without penalty
Before you sign anything, clarify:
- Can you extend at the same rate
- How much notice is needed to extend
- What happens if the owner wants the property back
For long-term hotel deals, you also want to know:
- How often is the rate reviewed?
- Whether events or busy periods can change your agreed price
- If you are tied to rigid blocks that might not match reality
With contractor-focused partners, extended stays are normal. They expect shifting programmes and build that into their model.
7.2 Reducing numbers and staggered dates
It rarely works that everyone arrives and leaves together.
Check:
- Can you reduce the number of guests partway through
- Can individuals check out earlier without losing the whole booking
- How names are handled if crew members change
Randomly juggling long-term stay rentals yourself through consumer sites like Airbnb can create a mess of separate agreements. Providers built for teams will centralise and manage this for you.
8. Admin, Support, And Communication
Almost every company we speak to complains about the admin of booking team stays. Chasing hosts, managing receipts, and reconciling dozens of invoices drains time.
8.1 One point of contact saves hours
Look for a partner that:
- Handles searching, shortlisting, and booking
- Deals with changes and extensions
- Provides one consolidated invoice or a simple billing structure
- Communicates clearly with you and your team
HMH Stays was built around this problem. With nationwide coverage of serviced apartments and houses in key business locations, and a single point of contact, you avoid bouncing between long-term rental websites, hotel chains, and private hosts.
Instead of scrolling through long-term rentals near me or long-term hotel stays near me, you hand your brief to a specialist and get tailored options back.
8.2 Clear, human support for your team on the ground
Admin for you is only half the picture. Your team needs support, too.
Good support looks like:
- Fast response if there is an issue with heating, WiFi, or access
- Clear instructions for check-in and check-out
- Help with parking, extra bedding, or added nights.
Ask providers how they measure response times and what guests say about their support. Testimonials from other contractors often tell you more than any sales pitch.
9. What Most Guides Miss About Team Accommodation
After reviewing leading articles on staff and contractor accommodation, a pattern appears. They rarely go deep on the messy human side.
9.1 Crew dynamics, rules, and conflict
Put ten people in a house, and you do not just get “accommodation”. You get a small community.
To keep that running smoothly:
- Set house rules before arrival and share them in writing
- Agree on quiet hours, especially if some people are on nights.
- Make expectations clear around guests, smoking, and shared spaces.
Include simple guidance on cleaning, bins, and shared shopping. It sounds basic, but it removes friction.
You can ask your provider to supply a standard welcome pack with rules included. A specialist partner used to long-term lodging and crew stays will likely have this ready.
9.2 Wellbeing, retention, and employer brand
Quality accommodation is not a perk. It is a tool for:
- Lower absence and lateness
- Better sleep and fewer accidents
- Stronger willingness to travel for future work
Employees talk. If you consistently put people in cramped, noisy places, word spreads. If your teams feel looked after, they remember that too.
Competitors often touch on staff retention, but they rarely show how directly accommodation feeds into it. You can treat this as a strategic choice, not just a logistical one.
10. How HMH Stays Fits Into Your Strategy
HMH Stays sits exactly in the space this guide has described: accommodation for contractors and project teams working away from home across the UK and Ireland.
You are not booking with a generic travel site. You are working with a team that comes from both hospitality and construction, so they understand what your crews face on site.
10.1 What you can expect with HMH Stays
When you submit a request, you can expect:
- Properties close to the site in practical, safe locations
- Options from 1–2 bed apartments up to 3–6 bed houses for teams
- Kitchens, WiFi, laundry, and parking where you need them
- Clear pricing that finance can actually work with
- One contact who learns how your company likes to work
10.2 Where this helps you most
HMH Stays is ideal when:
- You have repeat projects in different UK cities
- You are tired of managing accommodation piecemeal.
- Your teams complain about hotels, but you lack better options.
- You want a consistent standard without paying top hotel rates.
Because hosts pay the commission, you avoid added booking fees and still get a tailored service built around your project.
11. A Simple Step-by-Step Plan For Your Next Booking
To pull this together, here is a clear plan you can reuse every time you need accommodation, long-term or short-term temporary housing for your team.
Step 1: Define the project shape
Write down:
- Location
- Minimum and likely duration
- Expected team size and roles
- Shift patterns
Decide if this looks like a long-term hotel rental, serviced apartment stay, or a crew house requirement.
Step 2: Set standards you will not compromise on
For example:
- One person per bed, no sofa beds
- Max two people per bathroom
- Proper kitchen and WiFi
- Safe area and parking for vehicles
This stops you from being tempted by a cheap long-term accommodation option that does not actually work.
Step 3: Decide your preferred setup
Choose between:
- Individual apartments
- Shared houses per crew
- A mix of both
Consider whether certain roles need private spaces, while others can share.
Step 4: Brief a specialist provider
Instead of hunting long-term stays near me, send a clear brief to an accommodation partner like HMH Stays:
- Project details and dates
- Non-negotiable standards
- Budget per night or per week
- Any must-haves, such as parking or large vans.
Ask them to return a shortlist with clear pricing per person and per week.
Step 5: Sense check options with site leads
Share the shortlist with a site lead or supervisor who knows the local area and the team. Check:
- Commute time and route
- Safety and local services
- Whether the layout fits the crew dynamics
Adjust if needed before you approve anything.
Step 6: Confirm, communicate, and set expectations
Once you book:
- Share full details with the team, including house rules
- Make sure they know who to contact for issues.
- Confirm parking, check-in times, and any key codes.
If you are using a hotel monthly stay near me or similar, make sure the reception understands that this is a long-term workforce stay, not a standard tourist booking.
Step 7: Review and improve for next time
After the first week and again at the end of the project:
- Ask the team what worked and what did not
- Feed that back to your provider.
- Update your internal standards and checklist.
Over a few projects, your process becomes faster, smoother, and easier to defend to finance and leadership.
Conclusion
Choosing accommodation for your team is not just “booking rooms”. It is about giving people a base that helps them do their best work away from home, without wasting budget or your time.
If you keep these points in front of you, use long-term accommodation only where they truly fit, and lean on a specialist partner rather than juggling everything yourself, you give your projects a stronger foundation from day one.