SilverDoor Alternative: Comparing Crew Accommodation for Construction Project Teams

The short version

If you're searching for a SilverDoor alternative, the reason is usually not service quality. It's fit. SilverDoor describes itself as the world's leading corporate housing provider: more than 1 million apartments, 5,098+ property partners and 143+ countries, built for business travel, global mobility teams and relocation management companies. That model is strong when you're moving one consultant to Singapore or an assignee and family to London for six months.

It gets harder when the booking is eight electricians for five weeks, 20 minutes from a substation in a town with no apartment buildings. Bonjour Residences was built for that job: sourcing furnished, self-catering accommodation for construction and industrial crews across 27 European markets, through one point of contact and one consolidated invoice. We don't own or operate any property. This article compares the two models directly so you can work out which one fits your project.

Why this comparison is hard to make cleanly

SilverDoor and Bonjour Residences are both agencies, so on paper they look like the same thing. In practice they're pointed at different guests and different places.

SilverDoor was founded in London in 2000, merged with Synergy Global Housing and names The Ascott Limited as a strategic partner. In 2026 it launched Synergy by SilverDoor, apartments it operates itself in hubs such as London, Dublin and New York. Its industry pages cover consulting, finance, government and technology, and its tailored solutions page mentions moving workers for a construction project among other group moves.

Bonjour Residences works almost entirely with contractors and project teams in Europe. Across 201 confirmed and completed bookings in our data, the median party size was four people (n=63) and the bookings landed in 130 different towns and cities across 16 countries, many of them places a business traveller never goes.

The real pain: corporate apartments are sized for one or two people

Corporate housing inventory is concentrated where business travellers go, and it is sized for them. SilverDoor's own FAQ sets typical occupancy at two people for a studio or one-bedroom, four for a two-bedroom and six for a three-bedroom. For a crew, that usually means:

• Several apartments per team, often in different buildings, each with its own check-in and house rules.
• A city-centre location that adds a long daily drive to a site outside town.
• Extras priced per unit. SilverDoor lists parking and extra beds as normally subject to an additional charge, and its displayed rates exclude taxes.
• Payment up front. Its FAQ says reservations are billed at booking and paid in full before check-in, with direct billing only once credit is approved.

Stay length adds a second layer. SilverDoor's online tool is built for stays of 28 nights or more. Across those 201 bookings, our median stay was 16 nights and 64% were under 28 nights: shutdowns, commissioning windows and short fit-out phases. We cover lead times in How much notice do project teams give for crew accommodation?

How the two models compare

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

	SilverDoor	Bonjour Residences
Primary market	Global: 143+ countries and 5,098+ destinations, per its own site	27 European markets
Model	Corporate housing agent with 5,098+ property partners, plus its own operated Synergy by SilverDoor apartments in selected hubs	Independent sourcing agency; does not own or operate units
Core guest	Business travellers, global mobility assignees, relocations, interns, government and project teams	Construction, engineering and industrial crews, usually several people per booking
Typical unit	Studios to three-bedroom apartments; its FAQ lists two guests per one-bedroom and six per three-bedroom	Whole houses, multi-bedroom flats and aparthotels near the site, sized to the crew
Stay length	Minimum stay varies by property; under 4 nights is unlikely in some locations. Online tool handles 28+ nights	From a few nights to many months, matched to the right market for the length of stay
Payment	Billed at booking and paid in full before check-in; direct billing if credit is approved, otherwise card	One consolidated, VAT-compliant invoice on 30-day payment terms
Contract structure	Not publicly stated	One frame agreement, no minimums, no exclusivity, no lock-in
Support	24/7 team, phone answered within three rings, per its site	Direct WhatsApp access for the crew, check-in to check-out

Where SilverDoor does not publish a dated figure (contract structure), we've said so rather than guessed. Treat those rows as open questions to raise with any provider during procurement, including us.

Where SilverDoor is the right call

Worth saying plainly: for individual consultants, relocating employees or executives going to major business cities worldwide, a global agent with a booking platform, budget controls and offices on several continents does that job well. SilverDoor also covers North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, which we don't. The calculation changes when:

• Your bookings are crews of four or more who want to stay together, not one or two travellers.
• The site is in a small town or industrial area rather than a business district.
• Most stays are under four weeks, or the end date moves with the programme.
• Finance wants one invoice on payment terms across every country, not payment before check-in per reservation.
• The local market is tight enough that you need someone calling owners directly. See Why is there no contractor accommodation near our project site?

What changes with a pan-European sourcing model

The mechanics, in practice:

• One point of contact. You raise a requirement once; we source across the vetted network rather than you contacting providers country by country.
• One consolidated invoice. Countries and properties roll up into a single, VAT-compliant bill on 30-day terms. See Temporary Worker Accommodation: One Invoice, One Contact, No Minimum Volumes for how that's structured.
• No minimums, no exclusivity, no lock-in. You're not required to commit volume to a single country or supplier to get workable rates.
• All-inclusive rates. Utilities, Wi-Fi, taxes and support are built into the rate rather than arriving as separate line items per property.
• Any length of stay. From a few nights to many months, matched to the right type of accommodation. Our clients have saved 20-30% by using the correct market for the length of stay.
• Direct WhatsApp access for the crew. Workers message us directly for property issues, from check-in to check-out, rather than routing every problem through their manager.

None of that requires giving up flexibility. There's no exclusivity clause tying you to us for markets we're not sourcing well, and no minimum volume you have to hit to keep the rate.

Questions to ask any provider before you switch

Whether you're evaluating SilverDoor, Bonjour Residences, or a third option, get these in writing:

1. How many people will each unit actually sleep, and is that without extra beds that cost more?
2. How far is the property from the site gate, by road, at shift-change time?
3. What is the shortest stay you take, and what happens to the rate if the project overruns by two weeks?
4. Is payment taken before check-in, or invoiced on terms, and is it one invoice across countries?
5. When a worker has a problem at 9pm on a Sunday, who do they contact, directly?

If you're weighing up another named provider, our pieces on the Forenom alternative, the AltoVita alternative and the Booking.com alternative run through the same checklist.

FAQ

Is Bonjour Residences a direct competitor to SilverDoor?

Only partly. Both are agencies that source accommodation from property partners. SilverDoor focuses on corporate travellers and assignees worldwide; Bonjour Residences focuses on construction and industrial crews in 27 European markets. The overlap is project teams in Europe.

Does SilverDoor house construction workers?

Its tailored solutions page says it can help when you need to move workers for a construction project, and its government page lists contractors and specialist project teams. Its core offer, per its own site, is corporate apartments for business travel, mobility and relocation.

Does SilverDoor own its apartments?

Mostly not. It works through 5,098+ property partners, and since 2026 it also operates its own Synergy by SilverDoor apartments in selected business hubs such as London, Dublin and New York.

Does Bonjour Residences own the properties it books?

No. We are an independent sourcing agency, not a property owner or operator. We match client requirements against a vetted network of 3,000+ suppliers and 70,000+ units and handle sourcing, contracting, check-in coordination and invoicing on top.

Do I have to commit to a minimum volume to get a competitive rate?

No. Frame agreements carry no minimums and no exclusivity.

How many invoices will I receive if my crew is spread across several countries?

One. Every property and country rolls up into a single, VAT-compliant invoice on 30-day payment terms.

Where we house crews

• Hinkley Point C, Bridgwater
• Sizewell C, Suffolk
• Net Zero Teesside, Redcar
• Eastern Green Link 2, Peterhead
• Raheen pharma cluster, Limerick
• Contractor accommodation across Europe