Guides · Cost
Are bills included in a serviced apartment?
Published 6 June 2026 · By Ali Hassan, Direct Bookings Lead · 5 min read
TL;DR
Yes. At Staylio, the nightly rate bundles electricity, water, heating, Wi-Fi, and council tax. You arrive, drop your bags, and never see a utility bill or a heating supplement for the whole stay. It is the single biggest hidden saving versus a 4-star Central London hotel in winter, and it is the main reason long-stay accommodation expenses are simpler than long-let rentals.
What's bundled, line by line
| Bill | In or out? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | In | Run the dishwasher, the dryer, the hair-dryer. No meter readings. |
| Water (hot & cold) | In | London is metered. We absorb it. |
| Central heating | In | Turn it up in January. We pay the gas bill. |
| Wi-Fi | In | Full-speed broadband (no "premium tier" upcharge like hotels). |
| Council tax | In | No bill lands on you. No local-authority registration. |
| TV licence | In | Watch live TV without paperwork. |
| Buildings insurance | In (operator) | We carry it. Personal contents are your responsibility. |
| Cleaning supplies | In (starter pack) | Washing-up liquid, dishwasher tabs, surface spray, bin liners. |
| Linens & towels | In | Fresh on arrival; refreshed at every housekeeping visit. |
| Mid-stay extra cleans | Out (flat fee) | Add via WhatsApp; charged at a small fixed rate per visit. |
| Groceries / restaurants / taxis | Out | Same as anywhere. |
Why this matters more than it sounds
The honest version: bills-included is a hidden saving worth £8-15 a night in Central London, and it removes about an hour of admin per week (no meter readings, no top-ups, no council-tax registration, no Wi-Fi-tier upgrade dialogue with a hotel front desk). For a 14-night stay that is £112-210 you do not pay separately, plus seven hours of life back.
For corporate bookers, it also matters because procurement teams treat the bundled rate as a single accommodation expense — easier to authorise, easier to reconcile, easier to compare across cities. See the 28-night VAT threshold guide for how the bundled rate interacts with HMRC's long-stay accommodation rules.
Where Staylio fits
Browse the catalogue — every listing's rate is the all-in nightly figure. Corporate bookers head to /corporate for PO terms and monthly invoicing, or read what is a serviced apartment for the full definition.
Common questions
What exactly is included in the Staylio nightly rate?+
Electricity, water, heating, Wi-Fi, and council tax — all in. Plus fresh linens and towels, full bath and kitchen toiletries on arrival, smart-lock entry, and fortnightly housekeeping on long stays. No daily resort fee, no Wi-Fi tier upgrade, no charge for the kettle or the iron.
What is NOT included?+
Groceries, restaurant meals, taxis, theatre tickets — the obvious ones. Also: extra mid-week cleans beyond the included fortnightly one (priced as a small flat fee), and any per-night extra-guest supplement if you exceed the apartment's stated max occupancy. Long-distance phone calls aren't included either, because nobody makes those any more.
Why don't Airbnb hosts usually bundle bills the same way?+
Airbnb hosts often run as individuals subletting their own home, and their meters stay in their name. Bundling utilities into the nightly rate makes their tax position more complicated. Serviced-apartment operators run as licensed businesses with commercial meters and a single tax structure, so bundling is straightforward and lets us advertise an all-in rate.
What happens with council tax for long stays?+
Staylio absorbs council tax inside the nightly rate. You will not receive a council-tax bill, and you do not need to register with the local authority. For longer holiday-let stays under 90 nights, the apartment is exempt from individual council-tax liability under Local Government Finance Act provisions; for stays beyond that, Staylio handles the longer-term liability via the building's commercial classification. Either way, no admin lands on you.
What's the per-night value of having bills bundled?+
Roughly £8-15 per night for a 1-bed apartment in Central London once you add up electricity (£3-5), water (£1-2), heating in winter (£2-5), Wi-Fi (£1), and council tax pro-rated (£1-2). On a 14-night stay that's £112-210 you don't pay separately. Most guests notice it most in winter when central-London hotels start adding £20-40 'heating premium' surcharges.
Can my employer claim back bills as expenses?+
Bills bundled into accommodation are usually treated by procurement teams as part of the accommodation cost line, not as separate utilities. That's simpler than reclaiming individual utility receipts. The invoice we send shows one all-in nightly rate plus VAT (after night 28 the VAT effective rate drops 80% per HMRC rules) — easier to push through expense systems than ten separate receipts.
All-in rate, no surprises.
WhatsApp Ali for the apartment, the dates, and the one number that covers all of it.
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