As lock-down measures around the world are showing effect on the coronavirus pandemic, albeit slowly, many of us have adapted our lifestyles indoors. Almost accidentally, we have come to realize that most of our daily activities could have been done more efficiently and with less time.

Now, we are:

• no longer spending hours daily commuting between work and home
• shopping online for groceries
• having fewer or no physical meetings (always knew that meeting could have been just an email!)
• exercising indoors

These are just a few examples of activities that we wouldn’t have been able to do as easily just a few years ago! And it’s all thanks to the magic of the internet.

With that same internet magic, we’re now able to view apartments virtually. Cameras, phone and software technologies have vastly improved by leaps and bounds over the years too, making high-resolution and seamless viewing of photos possible.

Booking an apartment

A good trip starts with a great booking experience. Believing in the philosophy of “show, not tell”, we’ve combined both internet magic and modern technologies (shout-out to our tech and product team!) to design what essentially is a 24/7 showroom on our website. 

Through this, we’re able to show our guests accurate apartment photos, locations, details of amenities and etc on any device.

If you find viewing photos in a traditional web gallery a little boring, then check out our 360° Virtual Apartment Tours! In case you haven’t noticed this button on several of our serviced apartment listings, you really should check it out.

What’s a feature if there are no benefits? Here are 3 top reasons why our 360° tours will enhance modern traveller booking experience.

1. Immersive and detailed viewing in the palm of your hands.

Understandably, if you’re looking for a serviced apartment to live in for a significantly long/extended period of time, you’ll want to know every inch of the place.

Things like the size of toilet bowls, how do the curtains look, what the air conditioning layout is like – you will be able to see almost every single detail with our 360° virtual tour.

Notice the arrows in this GIF. By clicking on different arrows (virtually) seen in this beautiful apartment in Redhill, you’ll be able to virtually enter the rooms of the apartment and look around. 

What you see here is what you get in our apartments. Our team strives to keep the virtual tours as as authentic as possible; that means using natural lighting to show you the apartment in true colour and non-wide camera lenses to give you an honest space estimate. Anything more realistic, you’d be able to smell the fresh sheets!

2. Save time, save money.

If you’re taking notes, you’ll realise that tour shown in that gif covered the living room, toilet and bedroom – all in just 23 seconds. Assuming that we require a whole full minute to view an apartment, we’d be able to view 22 apartments in the same runtime as an episode of Friends.

With almost 300 listings just in Singapore on our website, there are many apartments of different locations, price, amenities and design. It’ll definitely be a waste if only a few are explored. Make full use of your time with our 360° virtual tour feature and explore as many as you can based on your preferences!

3. Make sharing accommodation-inspo cool again.

Oh, did we mention that this 360° virtual tour is also available on any device including mobile phones?

If you’re travelling with your partner, family members or perhaps even a colleague for a business trip, share details of your booked apartment simply by just sharing the URL. Our website is optimized for browsers on any platform. Your loved ones will be able to experience the same virtual tour you’ve experienced too!

If you’ve noticed this icon that looks like a robot-mask, that’s a feature included in our 360° virtual tour. It’s for an unparalleled VR experience!

To enjoy this feature however, requires additional (but really affordable) hardware; hardware that your tech savvy friends may already have.

Here’s an example of how we’ve taken a 360° virtual experience to another level –

For everything else, we’ve got your back with the help of our round-the-clock customer service team. We’re contactable by every modern means possible – email, call (both mobile and office) and there’s also our virtual assistant, Michelle, always there 24/7 on our website!

Just in case you have additional questions such as on the nearest pub, nearest MRT station or even the nearest Michelin star restaurant of the apartment that you fancy. Anything to let us understand your travel plans and to help you get the best apartment possible – we’re always here to help.

If you’re already staying with us, and prefer a human touch, the team will be able to assist on anything – like your plans that may have been affected by unforeseen circumstances, such as recommending/ordering airport taxis. Nothing’s too trivial for us! Contact our friendly staff here, via booking@metroresidences.sg.

Designing the entire experience as a contactless service not only saves time but also provides an extremely smart experience to the modern traveller. From viewing apartments, booking with your credit card, to key collection (yes, we also courier or place keys into safe boxes for guests to collect) for checking in, you’ll find lots of praise from the guests who have stayed in our apartments.