Edinburgh business travel · NovaBid
Serviced apartments for business travel in Edinburgh
A serviced apartment beats a hotel for a business trip when the stay is a week or more, when a team travels together, or when people want a kitchen and a door of their own. NovaBid is built so a business posts one request and receives private offers from independent Edinburgh hotels and, once they join, apartment operators, then picks one and pre-pays. The first operators are being invited now. Free for the business.
NovaBid is signing its founding independent Edinburgh hotels now. Businesses join the list and post first, the day the fifth hotel is live. What opening depends on.
Should a business book a serviced apartment or a hotel in Edinburgh?
Book a serviced apartment when the stay runs five nights or more, when several colleagues travel together, or when a kitchen and separate bedrooms matter more than a front desk; book a hotel for one to three nights, single travellers, or when breakfast, a bar and daily housekeeping earn their keep. On NovaBid a business will not have to choose in advance: it posts the trip once and independent Edinburgh properties that can serve it reply with a private offer priced for that stay. Hotels are being signed now and the first apartment operators are being invited, so apartment offers are not available yet. Each person gets their own bedroom either way.
Written and checked by Thomas Mellot, founder of NovaBid, who has worked in hotels and bars in Edinburgh, Amsterdam and the Alps. About Thomas.
Last reviewed . We correct these pages when the facts change; tell us if something here is wrong.
What gets in the way
Consumer rental sites were built for holidays. A company booking six colleagues into two flats for a fortnight gets a guest service fee on top of the nightly price, a host who may or may not invoice, and no one to ring at eleven at night when the key safe is empty.
Serviced apartment operators in Edinburgh are mostly small and independent, which is why they can price a block sharply and why they are hard to find. Their rates sit behind consumer sites and agency portals, and a direct enquiry means a phone call and a wait.
A touring company, a film crew or a project team needs twenty bedrooms for a week at a fixed allowance. No single hotel wants to give up twenty rooms over a Friday and Saturday at that price. Four apartments with five bedrooms each often will.
Finance wants one payment and a proper VAT invoice, not twelve card transactions and a host who is not registered. Duty of care wants to know the flat is licensed and someone is on call.
How it works
01
Post the trip and say what you want
City, dates, how many people, budget per head per night, and what matters to you. Each traveller gets their own bedroom; apartments with a shared living space are fine.
02
Independent properties reply privately
Apartment operators and hotels that match your request see it and send one private offer each: the unit or room, the rate for those nights and what is included. Nothing is published and nobody else sees the offer.
03
Compare, pick, pre-pay
Offers sit side by side. Pick one and pre-pay through Stripe, by card or, for most totals, Pay by Bank from a UK bank account. One booking confirmation for finance. The booking value belongs to the property: NovaBid remits it less commission, and the transfer is initiated at booking and paid to the property's bank once its free-cancellation window closes. If nothing suits, accept none and nothing is charged.
Planning an Edinburgh trip? Edinburgh hotel prices by date · Join the Edinburgh list
Pricing
Free for businesses.
No markup on the rate, no subscription and no per-booker fee. The hotel pays a published commission on a paid booking.
Frequently asked
What does a serviced apartment cost for business travel in Edinburgh?
It depends on the season, the length of stay and the size of the block, so there is no single honest figure. Per bedroom, a serviced apartment for a week or more is often comparable with a mid-range hotel room, and the kitchen means people are not eating every meal out. Set a budget per head per night and ask operators what they can do inside it.
Is a serviced apartment the same as an Airbnb?
No. A serviced apartment is run by an operator, not a private host: it is licensed as a short-term let or operated as an aparthotel, it invoices, it is cleaned to a schedule, and someone answers the phone out of hours. NovaBid works only with independent operators of that kind, not with individual hosts, so a business can meet its duty of care without checking each flat itself.
Can a group of twenty people be housed with a bedroom each?
Yes, and that is where apartments earn their place: a mix of units, each with several bedrooms, can house a group that no single hotel wants to take at a fixed allowance. A touring company at the Festival Theatre, a crew, or a project team on a monthly rotation are the typical cases. Apartment operators are being invited to NovaBid now, so for the moment ask operators directly with a brief that states twenty people with their own bedrooms.
Which apartment operators are on NovaBid?
Independent Edinburgh operators and independently owned groups, the same rule as for hotels. The first operators are being invited to join alongside the founding hotels now. Chains and consumer rental platforms are not part of the marketplace.
What if I need meeting space as well as apartments?
Post an away day instead. Meeting rooms are hotel work, and the hotel prices the room and the bedrooms together. A serviced apartment request is for accommodation only.
Try it for one trip
Join the list to post an Edinburgh trip the day the fifth founding hotel is live. Hotels then send private offers, and nothing is charged until you confirm one.
Join the list