Make Yourself at Home: a Guide to Extended Stays in 6 Irresistible Cities 

Move over, long weekends: extended stays are a golden opportunity to see a city in a whole new light. Linger a while in one of these six fantastic cities and you'll live like a real local – savouring coffee in your favourite café, grocery shopping at markets, and lapping up all the views and sights at an unhurried pace.

Embrace the energy of London

At Residence Inn London Kensington, you can take advantage of a 24-hour gym (Photo: Marriott International)

Would you rather live in West London’s leafy Kensington district, a short walk from Hyde Park, the Royal Albert Hall and the V&A Museum – or in lively South London, with The Shard and Borough Market on your doorstep? Actually, you don’t have to choose: Residence Inn’s three London properties will make you feel like a local, at ease in the city’s most sought-after neighbourhoods.

A few steps from the Piccadilly and District Line Tube lines, Residence Inn London Kensington is also very convenient for sightseeing all over the city, with speedy services to Heathrow Airport, Wimbledon and Kew’s Royal Botanic Gardens. And as with all Residence Inns, you’ll have a beautiful apartment to return to, complete with chic décor, daily housekeeping, a 24-hour gym and, should you so wish, grocery deliveries right to your door. If you have laundry to do, there’s a choice of self-service and valet dry cleaning.

Down in South London, Residence Inn London Bridge and Residence Inn London Tower Bridge are both a few steps from the Jubilee and Northern Line. This district is known as Southwark, and it’s one of London’s oldest boroughs; as well as exploring its namesake Tower Bridge, you’ll want to pour over modern art at the White Cube Gallery and haute couture in the Fashion and Textile Museum, before heading to Coco Grill & Lounge for river-view shisha.

Make yourself at home in Brussels

The fully equipped kitchen provided when you stay at a Residence Inn means you can take a break from eating out (Photo: Marriott International)

Brussels offers endless opportunities for discovery, from the beautiful architecture of Grand-Place and the fine art of Magritte Museum, to the city's legendary beer and chocolate shops. Linger a while in the Belgian capital and you can explore even further: following the city’s comic-strip street art trail, working your way through Delirium Café’s 2,004 global craft beers (the world’s biggest selection), and visiting the Atomium observation deck at sunset to see the city’s lights aglow. Residence Inn Brussels Airport is just a 20-minute taxi trip or 15-minute train journey from the city centre, featuring stylish balcony suites and a terrace bistro and bar. 

A 30-minute train ride eastwards, the city of Ghent is also a charmer – where you can stroll along the pretty Leie River, feast on moules-frites at Pakhuis, and admire the Gothic spires of Saint Bavo's Cathedral. Residence Inn Ghent, a 20-minute cycle away, offers spacious apartments and happy hour drinks. If you're in the mood to pick up some local ingredients and cook something special, you can get creative in the fully equipped kitchen – complete with stylish cookware and a Nespresso machine for that post-dinner pick-me-up. Next morning, you might opt instead for a complimentary cooked breakfast – just another of the little details that make Residence Inns so inviting.

Savour all the delights of Amsterdam

When you linger in Amsterdam with an extended stay at Residence Inn Amsterdam Houthavens, you'll feel like a local (Photo: Marriott International)

Arrive in Amsterdam on a Friday evening by plane or train, and you can be savouring craft beer and poffertjes (pancake puffs) in a canal-side café by sunset – with a weekend of exploring the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Anne Frank House ahead. 

But to really get under the skin of the city, you’ll need at least a week: to go hiking and kayaking in Amsterdamse Bos, to haggle for treasures in the Noordermarkt flea market, and to picnic in the Keukenhof gardens amid thousands of tulips from March to May. Residence Inn Amsterdam Houthavens is the ideal base-camp, complete with a swimming pool, views of Houthavens Harbour, and interior design inspired by Johannes Vermeer’s palette – the painter of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. 

To see the exquisite original painting on display, head to The Hague’s Mauritshuis gallery, a 50-minute train journey from Amsterdam. It’s easy to fall for this coastal city, with its long beaches, magnificent Peace Palace and foodie Chinatown – so make yourself at home at Residence Inn The Hague. 

Become a local in Paris

With Residence Inn hotels, your pet can enjoy the sights of Paris too (Photo: Marriott International)

Strolling beside the Seine, losing yourself in the Louvre's 480,000 artworks (its gallery space totals a huge 15 acres), soaking up the view from that famous tower: Paris’s top things to do are just as iconic as the city itself, but if you stay longer, you can move out of traveller mode. Seek out designer treasures in Quartier Saint-Paul’s vintage boutiques, catch a burlesque show at Crazy Horse, and delve into Paris’s off-beat museums: from fairground fun at Musée des Arts Forains to taxidermy at Maison Deyrolle.

At Residence Inn Paris Charles de Gaulle Central Airport, you can pop easily into the city on public transport, relax in the all-day restaurant and private library – and even bring your pooch to Paris, as the hotel, like all Residence Inns, is pet-friendly.

For an even longer stay in France, both Residence Inn Strasbourg and Residence Inn Toulouse-Blagnac Airport offer modern apartments within easy reach of their namesake cities – around five hours from Paris by train. 

Turn Dubai into your own personal neighbourhood

Opt for an extended stay at one of Dubai's Residence Inn hotels and you'll really get under the city's skin (Photo: Marriott International)

It’s no secret that Dubai has real wow-factor – with endless sunshine, white-sand beaches and those incredible skyscrapers. But take the time to explore, and you’ll find countless other excuses to stay: simple pleasures like jogging on Kite Beach’s sea-view running trail, sipping mint lemonade in a rooftop restaurant in Al Seef, and haggling for spices and trinkets in Bur Dubai’s souks.

When it comes to location, you don’t get much more central than Residence Inn Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, situated on the city’s main thoroughfare. From here, you can reach the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and Dubai Frame in a ten-minute taxi ride, or the souks in 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Residence Inn Al Jaddaf has the Dubai Canal and Ras Al Khor flamingo sanctuary on its doorstep: yes, the city’s own wildlife haven, bustling with pink-feathered birds. Just one more reason to linger in Dubai.

Fully relax into Munich life

With Residence Inn hotels, you don't need to find a minder for your dog when considering an extended stay in Germany (Photo: Marriott International)

Bavaria is all about the good life: clinking steins with new friends in lively beer halls, feasting on bratwurst and Glühwein at Christmas markets, and exploring grand palaces seemingly plucked from a fairytale – like the Nymphenburg, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein (said to have inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty design).

With an extended stay at Residence Inn Munich City East, you’ll call trendy Au-Haidhausen home, a neighbourhood known for its bistros, wine bars and the Deutsches Museum – the world’s largest science and technology collection, complete with robots, space suits and jet aircraft.

Thanks to Germany’s excellent rail network, it’s easy to prolong your stay in another new place – such as little-visited Dortmund for its vast Christmas market, or the cosmopolitan city of Frankfurt. In the former, stay at Residence Inn Dortmund City to be within easy walking distance of the city centre, station and Westpark city garden. Meanwhile at Residence Inn Frankfurt City Center, you’ll be perfectly placed for grocery shopping at foodie heaven Kleinmarkthalle – you can always pick up last-minute necessities from the on-site Grab n’ Go shop, a Residence Inns signature feature – and jogs or strolls along the picturesque riverside. 

Published: October 07, 2024