Government Placements, Corporate Contracts, Defence Postings

Don’t leave it too late !

If your coming to Canberra for work next year I want to encourage you to make your accommodation arrangements now.

The general habit is to relax into the Christmas and New Year break and start getting organised the first week of January.  My experience is that by the second week of January all the great accommodation has been taken and the late organisers are left with very slim pickings indeed.  I have spoken to people in February who have spent 3-4 weeks living in hotels at nightly rates!

Canberra locals know that if you want to move house, December is the best month for it and January is the worst!  This is because the transient members of our community all go home in December giving up their rental properties, then a new wave of Corporate, Government and Defence employees enter in January.

The point of this blog?  To advise our incoming community members to start looking now.

Canberra Furnished Accommodation only have 3-4 executive properties left for late January medium-term bookings and no budget properties available until mid-February.  Call us, email us or book online so you don’t get left in the lurch.

Masterpieces of Paris Accommodation Package

Canberra Furnished Accommodation are offering an ‘Prides of Paris Accommodation Package’ to celebrate Paris’ finest masterpieces being hosted at the National Gallery of Australia from December 2009 to April 2010. 

With artworks on display from the likes of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and more, this event is not to be missed.  So if your seeking an escape to stylish, spacious and private accommodation with a once in a lifetime experience attached then you need to look no further.

The package includes 2 nights in fully equipped 1 bedroom executive apartment, 2 tickets to the Masterpeices Exhibition at the NGA, a lovely bottle of local wine from Mount Majura Vineyard and a decadent cheese platter.  Your gifts will waiting for you in your chosen property when you arrive.

From only $395 for a two night stay  we are booking out fast.  Book Now to secure your experience.

Online Bookings Now Available

Your Canberra Furnished Accommodation can now be booked online! 

With just a few clicks of the mouse you can confirm up to the minute availability of your chosen property and make your booking, at any time of the day or night.  You can even book one of our generous continental breakfast hampers so you don’t have to shop on your way home.

Next time you need nightly accommodation in Canberra, please come straight to our website to book your ‘home away from home’.

Look forward to seeing you soon,
Laurie

About the Managing Director

Laurie McDonald is the Managing Director of Canberra Furnished Accommodation, and the ACT 2009 Business Woman of the Year

I’ve experienced being away from home for work, being between homes and not able to live at home for a little while – it can be stressful.  With this in mind, I have set out to create a nicer experience for you by creating a ‘home away from home’ in every single one of our 37 properties.  Because having to be away from home shouldn’t be an experience where you give up your comfort and privacy in an impersonal environment.

There is nothing worse than being in a serviced apartment and going to slice your tomato and having it squash because the knife is blunt, or go to cook a meal and realise you can’t complete the recipe because an important peice of cookware is not there.  I’ve had these experiences too and this is why I source the best quality inclusions I can find for our properties.  In addition to our exceptionally well equipped kitchens with espresso machines, we also equip the properties with Egyptian cotton towels,  high thread count bedlinen, throw rugs and plenty of extra pillows and cushions. 

When you call us we ask why you need accommodation, who will be staying there and where you will be spending your time in Canberra – we do this because we want to make sure that we can provide you with a property that matches your needs.  If you are renovating, relocating or escaping a home disaster, we will want to place you in a property that has lots of extra storage so you can bring your treasured possessions with you for safe-keeping.

If you are here for a corporate stay (consulting, Government, contract, or company relocation) we will make sure that your property is as close to your workplace as possible and that it has a desk if you need to work after hours. If there are two of you sharing, we will want to ensure there is a second bathroom and enough space in the property for you to be able to still enjoy your privacy.  If you will be working from home we can arrange an internet connection and try to match you with a property that is suitable for business meetings.

For people with children, we will want to place you in a property that has secure open spaces for them to play outside, a bath if they are little and conveniences for mum and dad (ie, dishwasher, separate laundry, DVD player).  Finally, if you are a sporting enthusiast, we will want to provide you with a property that has space for your equipment, easy access and a large hot water system.

It is important to me that you have a good experience when you stay in a Canberra Furnished Accommodation property, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on your time with us.  Likewise, if you know of someone who needs our temporary accommodation services, please refer them on, we would love to take care of them.

Businesswoman of the Year

Thank you to Megan Doherty and Mel Adams from the Canberra Times for the great article and gorgeous photo, Lisa and Cam from the Mix 106.3 breakfast program for the interview this morning and for saying my website on air – http://www.mix106.com.au/, Mike Welsh from the 2CC Drive Show for the interview this afternoon – http://www.radio2cc.com/presenters/mike-welsh.html and especially the Canberra Win News team (Janene Manwaring, Rob Herrick, Aiden Lynch and many others behind the scenes) for the news feature they put together which gave me the opportunity to share the win with my wonderful team of staff – http://www.wintv.com.au/canberra_districts/news

Congratulations to Claire Connelly from Papercut – http://www.papercut.net.au, who was highly commended for two awards and won the Caring for the Environment Award; Kylie Watson from La Bella Creations who won the Best New Business Award and Bobbi Cook from Bobbi Cook Behaviour Management who won the Outstanding Community Spirit Award.

Our Newest Addition – Apartment 33

I have just been to visit our newest 1 bedroom executive property, Apartment 33, and WOW it’s a stunner.  The apartment is located on the 5th floor of the Glebe Apartments development, adjacent to the Convention Centre and Casino Canberra.  Inside there are tree top views to the East of Canberra with Mount Ainslie, Parliament House and glimpses of Lake Burley Griffin able to be enjoyed from the balcony.

Its a large open plan and light filled apartment with substantial storage, actually, I have never seen such generous storage in an apartment before.  Whilst this apartment is ideal for Corporate travellers because of its fantastic location, it would also be perfect for re-locaters because of all the places to tuck away those belongings that you didn’t want to entrust to the removalists.

In the kitchen the quality is first class with marble through-out, gas hotplates and SMEG appliances right down to the kitchen sink, yes you read right, even the kitchen sink is SMEG.  It appears as if builders worked with a kitchen designer as the working triangle is perfect and I just love the idea of the European laundry being adjacent to the kitchen so you can fold  your clothes comfortably on the kitchen bench without lugging them around the apartment first.

The bedroom is enormous, which is unusual for newer developments, it’s so nice to see that builders have stopped skimping on the size of the bedroom.  The attention to details continues with the built-in-robes, plenty of space for both his and hers and well thought-out shelving with a combination of drawers, shelves and varied hanging spaces.  It’s a nice surprise to see the builders have incorporated plenty of storage space in the bathroom, where you will find marble from top to bottom with a nice long counter and a shower big enough for two.

As if all of the above wasn’t enough, there are great facilities within the complex itself.  Secure undercover parking, a heated outdoor swimming pool and spa in an beautifully landscaped enclosed courtyard with BBQ’s and outdoor seating.  There is also a fully equipped gymnasium with free weights, treadmills, bikes, steppers and a number of individual weight workstations.

I always leave our apartments knowing that I would be happy to live there myself, this has been my personal test on if the property is worthy since I began Canberra Furnished Accommodation in 2003.  In that time I have fallen in love with our apartments so much that I relocated my family to one in December 2007.  I can honestly tell you that this is the first property I have seen since then that has made me consider moving again!

Thanks for reading,
Laurie

See Inside … Canberra Furnished Accommodation

On Thursday 26th March we invited a small group to See Inside our new 3 bedroom apartment.
http://www.canberrafurnished.com.au/properties/executive/apartment-241/.

This event is something we run regularly at Canberra Furnished Accommodation, we are proud of what we do and love having the opportunity to prove our claim that our properties are the best value and quality for temporary accommodation in Canberra.

The evening was a great success.  We enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with members of the local business community over a drink and show them through one of our properties, demonstrating why we really are specialists at turning each of our properties into a genuine ‘home away from home’ for our guests.

This is a great opportunity for me to say thank you to the wonderful people I have working with me.  We were one team member short this week – always a challenge in a small business with a small team - but it was all hands on deck and as always they did me proud.

For all those that attended and networked at our event, below are the names, business names and websites of the attendees.

Attendees
Rachael Orr from Australian Capital Tourism
http://www.visitcanberra.com.au

Richard Luton and Aaron McCauley from Richard Luton Properties
http://www.luton.com.au

Ivan Donaldson, Peter Cheers (and partner Vivien) and Nick de Tarczynski from the Australian Building Codes Board
http://www.abcb.gov.au

Jason Conroy (and partner Claire) from Finding Simple web design
http://findingsimple.com

Matthew Power from Iken Furniture and Interiors
http://www.iken.com.au

Richard O’Dell from The Griffith Butchery and Bakery
http://www.griffithbutchery.com.au

Dearne Mann and Michelle O’Neill from Southern Cross Computing
http://www.scc.com.au/

Lily Rimanic from Lily Rimanic Real Estate
http://www.cwb.org.au/?q=user/191

Arthur & Marilyn Gray from MBE Business Centre in Manuka
http://www.mbemanuka.com.au/

Ian Blackburn from LJ Hooker Tuggeranong
http://www.ljhooker.com.au/tuggeranong

If you are reading this Blog and would like to be invited to the next Canberra Furnished Accommodation See Inside, please email us so we can contact you for our next one in around 3 months time.

Kind regards,
Laurie McDonald
Managing Director
Canberra Furnished Accommodation
Your home away from home

Welcome to our New Website

We are very excited to be able to bring you improved functionality so we can tell you more about your individually selected property before you check in. At Canberra Furnished Accommodation you are not allocated a hotel room, you get to look through the selection of properties we have available and choose the one that best suits your requirements.

To celebrate our new website and thank you for reading our news articles, please mention this posting when you are booking for a 10% discount on your accommodation (up to 4 weeks) until the 15 February 2009.

Feedback on our new site is very welcome, we would love to hear what you think, please email it through to us via
laurie
[at]
canberrafurnished [dot] com [dot] au

Canberra Furnished Accommodation – Family Business Australia Article

Just wanted to share our Family Business Australia article which was published in October 2008.

Canberra Furnished Accommodation – B2B Magazine Article

We recently had an article in B2B. View a pdf version of the article or read a snippet from it below…

Laurie McDonald is the owner and Director of Canberra Furnished Accommodation, which has 33 centrally located properties in its portfolio – from small studio units to two-bedroom executive apartments, all designed to meet client needs.

“We’ve listened to our clients about what they want, especially business people and their families,” says Laurie. “People are after comfortable and affordable accommodation, privacy, and prompt service if something goes wrong. The reality is that not all accommodation providers respect these basic requirements. It can often be about skimping to save money.”

In contrast the décor of Canberra Furnished Accommodation’s properties is modern and all are well appointed, with ‘little extras’ like espresso machines, Egyptian cotton towels, high thread-count bed linen and throw rugs on the beds. The kitchens are so well-equipped you can easily cook a five-course meal in them and the outdoor spaces are furnished, with many having barbecues….