Win A Serviced Apartment!

If you're looking for a cool competition, then look no further than this fantastic opportunity. A new competition has been launched by Great Ormond Street Hospital called Win A London Pad. 11 fantastic serviced apartments are up for grabs. In order to enter, you have to buy a 4gb Mp3 player for £60 (the RRP is 89.99). Purchasing the MP4 player is your entry into the competition.

And here's the best bit - when you enter the competition, money goes towards Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, which does such fantastic and essential work in caring for seriously ill children. The competition is open to 200,000 entries, so if you buy one MP4 player (and one entry), have a 1 in 200,000 chance of winning a serviced apartment in a prime London location.

Everytime you enter, £3 will goto Great Ormond St Hospital, which means that when all 200,000 entries are sold, £600,000 will have been raised for a brilliant charity.

About the MP4 Player

The MP4 player is slim, and sexy with a great colour screen. It's capable of playing most music and video formats, making it a fantastic portable media player and a very viable present idea for someone this Christmas.

About the Serviced Apartment

The serviced apartment will be one of eleven at "York House", a development which is seeing an existing block refurbished and revamped to a very high spec. It's in E1, very close to the City of London - a perfect location for corporate housing and short term lets. The serviced apartments will be built by reputable builders with experience of serviced apartments. Having a serviced apartment is a great investment, so to win one for free is a brilliant way of gaining an ongoing income.

To enter the competition, visit WinALondonPad.com

Review of Apartment 118 in Liverpool

Apartment 118 is a top spec serviced apartment overlooking the river Mersey in Liverpool's regeneration dockside area.

I went in mid-September, and the visit began with meeting the friendly owner onsite to pick up the keys and be shown up to the apartment. As soon as you walk into the apartment, you are blown away. It's been furnished to a very high standard indeed with loads of nice touches around the flat, such as a welcoming bottle of wine, a handbook with details of local shops and places to go and a soft closing toilet seat.

The apartment sleeps three, with one king size bed and a fold up bed which is stored in the cupboard. It's very nicely situated, with the Albert Dock about 10 minutes walk along the river front, and getting into Liverpool city centre takes only a few minutes too. If you don't feel like cooking, the excellent Mal Maison Hotel is a few hundred metres away with a superb restaurant, or of course there's loads of places to eat if you're happy to walk a bit further (although it was raining when I visited and myself and my guest left without an umbrella!).

Everything you could wish for is provided: iron, ironing board, first aid kit, all the kitchen utensils you'd find at home (and more), kettle, tea bags, coffee, sugar, big screen TV, DVD player, freeview. I was actually overwhelmed with how good this apartment was, and it was tastefully decorated throughout with Beatles imagery. Next time I'm in Liverpool, Apartment 118 will definitely be my first preference for a serviced apartment.

More information on Apartment 118 in William Jessops Way, Liverpool.

Brighton Apartments

Often referred to as "London by the sea", Brighton is a busy, buzzing city on the South coast. Once upon a time it was the coastal playground of Royal playboys, and now it's a bright colourful location that stands out from its neighbours because it has such energy and youthful fervour. It's particularly identified with the creative industries - I'm not sure why; maybe there's some inspiration in that sea air?

If you're heading to Brighton, enjoy accommodation with extra space and privacy. We recommend you have a look at the Avalon serviced apartment in Brighton, which furnished to a luxury spec and is in a sea fronted location.

More Brighton Serviced Apartments

The City is not Canary Wharf

The news channels are really lapping up the financial crisis. One of the their favourite things is to go and send their anchors/reporters to the City as if standing in the street enhances the coverage any more than being in a studio, but I guess it adds to the drama.

But of their most annoying habits is to put on the caption "Live: The City", when they are quite clearly standing in Canary Wharf. Note to news editors: The City is not Canary Wharf, and Canary Wharf is not The City.

Luckily we know the difference, as demonstrated by these pages dedicated to serviced flats in London's two top financial districts:

• Serviced Apartments in the City of London
• Serviced Apartments in Canary Wharf

Serviced Flats in Norwich

It might seem hard to believe now, but once upon a time - in the 12th century, to be precise - Norwich was England's second most important city behind London. It's status might have diminished a little since then, but it's still a busy, bustling city where lots of business is done. In fact, Norwich was rated as the eight most prosperous shopping destination in the UK.

If you're doing business in Norwich, you could choose a local hotel which will almost certainly be quite adequate, but to make your stay in the City a little more personal, why not consider a serviced apartment. A serviced apartment gives you a whole lot more space than a hotel room, including proper bedrooms and a fully functioning kitchen. You also get the privacy you need to make it a home from home.

Want to learn more? Click here to see the list of serviced apartments in Norwich.

Find out more about Norwich