Politicians have been smarting in the wake of the expenses scandal. Some say they have considered giving up this politics game altogether and you can't blame them. For any politician who has to come in from the country, times will be tough. Can you get away with having a plush second home in the city or will the measly tax payer make you rent a hovel in the bad part of town. But fear not, because an alternative might present itself. For travelling workers, a number of companies now offer a choice of short term luxury apartments that make life altogether more easy.

Increasingly people who have to commute into the city are looking for better alternatives than a drab hotel room. Imagine you work in a city during the week and return to the country at the weekend. Also imagine you spend time travelling to and working in various cities around the country at a time. For people like this, swapping the hotel for fully serviced luxury apartments can seem like an ideal option. Afterall, if you're going to commute then why not do it in style?

For owners of apartments this can seem like a good alternative to selling. The market is notoriously volatile at present. In fact if you ever ask ten estate agents or economists which way they think the market is going to go, you'll probably get ten different answers, at the very least. Some believe we're set for a steady and inevitable return to the days of super high property prices; others say prices will remain flat through the next 12 months. Others, meanwhile, suggest we'll see another collapse - the notorious W shaped recovery we've been told to expect.

So, if you have hold of one or maybe a couple of luxury apartments, it makes sense to venture into the rental market and wait to see which way the market goes. That makes doubly good sense, because in the long term the market must surely rise, and it may rise big. That's a problem if you need cash, so gaining an income from rent makes sense.

Making the apartment available for one of these short term rental properties is perfect as the company can take on the management and servicing requirements from you. True you might not receive quite as much of the rent, but on the bright side it takes away much of the responsibility of being a land lord.

So it seems everything is disposable these days - even the places we live in. The question is: what does this mean for hotels, especially those who rely on travelling professionals for their bread and butter? If you can just choose from a range of nice luxury apartments - especially if your employer is nice enough to foot the bill - then does this spell trouble for hoteliers up and down the land?