Look up in London

Some people look straight ahead when they walk. Some look down at the ground right in front of them.

I look up - do you?

If you do, you'll know where this is:

I was out walking between appointments in The City the other day and, as I like to do, taking pictures. When you do that in Town these days, and the sky is blue, the sun shining - you have to take pictures.



So, where is this? Answers in comments please, and when we pass 50 answers from separate individuals I'll donate £10 to Leukaemia Research Fund.

Please take a look around the other posts while you're here - thanks!


Adrian England

Traffic congestion during London 2012 Olympics

MPs in the UK Parliament are concerned about traffic congestion during the London 2012 Olympics.

They should be.

London is not the easiest place to get around at the best of times; the streetplan is medieval, the main airports are all in the wrong places and the underground is catching up with other world-class capitals - but it's not there yet!

Business has been advised by TFL to shut-down, or relocate operations if practical, for the duration. That should tell you something.

August is set to be a Marathon for everyone who doesn't have VIP access.

Serviced apartments pricing factors

Basically, providers usually arrange their rates according to the following "duration of stay" scheme:

A very short stay: 3 to 6 nights
Under a month: 7 to 28 (or 30) nights
Month plus: 28 (or 30) nights to 90 nights

This is because the majority of the costs are concerned with booking, arrival and departure, so a longer stay is going to cost less per night than a shorter stay.

There can be another step at 90 to 180 nights (6 months), but let's focus on the more likely scenarios first.


Then there is the type of apartment: Studio, one bed, two bedrooms are normal; three, or four bedroom units are rare. Lots of scope for complexity here when you consider sub-types eg standard and superior, deluxe, super-deluxe etc - I won't attempt to cover this here, but will come back to the subject in future posts ;-).


Then there is competitiveness - eg how good is the location, how spacious are the apartments, how superior is the offering in terms of facilities? What hotels are nearby - sometimes for shorter-stays there can be a price relationship.


For these reasons, I have not tried to provide a price guide here. If you are serious about booking somewhere, it's likely that there will be other important factors, of which price is a partial component. When you are clear on your 5 factors, that is the time to talk specifics on price.


Hope this helps?

Adrian

Cancellation Policies and serviced apartments

Flexibility, commitment and risk are the three factors behind a cancellation and availability policy for serviced apartments.

Variations from building to building arise from the different weightings applied to these factors, depending upon whether the building is large or small, and upon what characterises the normal (or seasonal) pattern of stays.

Hotel users may be puzzled by the idea of a cancellation policy which goes beyond 4pm on the day of arrival, but please remember that serviced apartments providers are trying to manage their availability in order to make the building viable as a business - this means they need to work at keeping occupancy high whilst allowing an element of flexibility for existing guests, who may need to extend.

For a perspective on this please see my post on granularity in serviced apartments .


If flexibility is required (eg for the option to extend), risk comes into play and commitment has to balance the risk.

If the number of comparable units is small this will increase to risk of getting left with empty apartments, in the event of cancellation. That's why a large serviced apartments building may run a shorter cancellation period.

There is a human element too: If the provider is nervous they will run a strict cancellation policy to protect themselves. This is where trust relationships can sometimes be important in order to negotiate easier cancellation obligations.

The bottom-line is that this is necessary to keep a good business viable, so what you CAN do is adopt a "what goes around, comes around mind-set. Accept that there is going to be a cancellation situation if event become unpredictable, but communicate what you need all in good time and very often a cancellation situation can be improved, even if it cannot be completely avoided.

Hope this helps.

Adrian

Favourite London Serviced Apartments - St. Marks

St. Marks 300 City Road, EC1

Once a busy hospital, St Marks now plays host to residents receiving treatment at the nearby Moorfields Eye Hospital, or in the peak of health, on business for extended or short stays in the UK Capital.

GM Gautham runs a tight ship, ensuring consistent standards for all guests at this relatively large serviced apartments building.

See "standard equipment" post for more on what to expect in terms of equipment. >>>

Nearest convenience store 5 minutes>>>
Nearest coffee options Costa Coffee from the Shell Station 3 minutes >>>
Other places of interest Moorfields Eye Hospital 10 minutes walk >>>
Cancellation Policy on request, see separate post on this area of t&cs cancellation policies >>>

Resident Home helps you locate the availability which will suit your need, in the type of apartment which will match your lifestyle, whether that's near your office, in your favourite part of London, or strict to budget.

These are the 5 details you need to think about:

• Arrival date
• expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives)
• number of bedrooms
• budget-range
• and your ideal location.

Any questions, email resident.home@yahoo.co.uk 
See you soon in London.

kind regards
Adrian England
Resident Home

Favourite Kensington Serviced Apartment Buildings

The Collingham, 26/27 Collingham Gardens, Kensington SW5 0HN

This period Kensington building hosts serviced apartments including spacious one, two and even three bedroom apartments. The location is quite unique, just 6 minutes south-west from Gloucester Road, but the most compelling reason to love this building is the team...

Introducing: Beverley and Joanna!

Representing the whole housekeeping and management, these talented individuals juggle availability to create space in-between existing reservations, while also catering for the needs of current residents settling-in for a temporary housing soujourn in Kensington.

There are 27 apartments in total, with a sole studio, 10 one bedroom, 11 two bedroom, and 5 three bedroom, including a two bedroom and a three bedroom penthouse.

See "standard equipment" post for more on what to expect in terms of equipment in a serviced apartment. >>>

Nearest convenience store >>>
Nearest coffee options, Gloucester Road, 6 minutes walk >>>
Other places of interest: Earls Court >>>
Cancellation Policy >>>

Resident Home helps you locate the availability which will suit your need, in the type of apartment which will match your lifestyle, whether that's near your office, in your favourite part of London, or strict to budget.

These are the 5 details you need to think about:
Arrival date
expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives)
number of bedrooms
budget-range
and your ideal location.



Any questions, email resident.home@yahoo.co.uk 
See you soon.

kind regards
Adrian England
Resident Home

Favourite London Serviced Apartment Buildings - 92 Middlesex St.

92 Middlesex Street, E1 - Introducing: Emma & Deepak


This warren of serviced apartments includes spacious studios, one and two bedroom apartments, plus the famous "Live-Work" apartments (see below) is managed very ably by Emma and Deepak.

Together these talented individuals juggle availability to create space in-between existing reservations, while also catering for the needs of current residents settling-in for temporary housing soujourns.


Located just into the E1 postcode, actually a near neighbour to the University of East Anglia, and within several minutes' walk from Liverpool street station. >>>

The building splits between "A" side and "B" sides, with all the apartments being on the more spacious end of the scale. There are six studios, eight standard one beds, eight superior one beds, and eight x two beds, arranged on five floors. Originally converted from offices, hence some of the space "pluses" with this building.

See "standard equipment" for more on what to expect in terms of equipment. >>>

Nearest convenience store - many within 2 minutes >>>
Nearest coffee options >>>
Sandwich? "Subway" within 2 minutes, Pret a Manger within 5 minutes >>>
Other places of interest >>>
Cancellation policy >>>

Resident Home helps you locate the availability which will suit your need, in the type of apartment which will match your lifestyle, whether that's near your office, in your favourite part of London, or strict to budget.

These are the 5 details you need to think about:
Arrival date
expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives)
number of bedrooms
budget-range
and your ideal location.

Any questions, email resident.home@yahoo.co.uk See you soon.
kind regards
Adrian England
Resident Home

Hemel Who Let The Dads Out

Hi,

Off-topic but here goes:

This is a group that I lead in Hemel Hempstead, at my Church "Adeyfield Free", and this week we made the papers with top billing.

LOCOG releases 20% of 2012 allocation

Good news for Hoteliers and Tour Operators in London, now that LOCOG has decided it's position and released one-fifth of the rooms they were holding on an allocation.


The original allocation was 600,000 rooms, so this eases availability in central London, without flooding the market suddenly, right on top of the event.


Serviced apartments availability and pricing is related to Hotel availability and pricing, so we should anticipate only a modest adjustment into the Hotel market, and thus overall a calming effect on the entire market.


Companies who have been waiting for this news will now move ahead with booking and provisioning plans more readily, which is all good - a shot of "normality" has been added to the mix for summer 2012.


BUT - serviced apartment availability is influenced by the need for flexibility and an option to extend. This can still produce unexpected availability related to cancellations or early departures.

In short: some uncertainty represents flexibility - which is good, but only if you are ready for it!

That's why Resident Home exists!

We'll help you locate the availability which will suit your need, in the type of apartment which will match your lifestyle, whether that's near your office, in your favourite part of London, or strict to budget. Even during the Olympics...

Suggested reading: The posts on our favourite buildings in London
These are the 5 details you need to consider:

Arrival date, expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives),
number of bedrooms, budget-range and your ideal location.

Then send us your contact email - we'll make some expert recommendations with costings. Then all you have to do is book.

email us at resident.home@yahoo.co.uk 

We'll see you soon.

kind regards
Adrian England

London at night

Wow, London is looking better and better these days, judging by these ariel views:

When you need to stay in London, make sure you take the opportunity to wander around the City,

criss-cross the bridges, just walk - then you'll see the history, the short-cuts, the dead-ends,                                               and it will become your home.

Of course, the purist likes to see St. Pauls in shot:

Resident Home helps you locate the availability which will suit your need, in the type of apartment which will match your lifestyle, whether that's near your office, in your favourite part of London, or strict to budget.

These are the 5 details you need to consider:

Arrival date, expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives),
number of bedrooms, budget-range and your ideal location.


email resident.home@yahoo.co.uk 

See you soon.

kind regards
Adrian England
Resident Home

Aims for this blog

Why am I here? That's what a lot of business travellers have time to consider.


I have spent so many hours visiting serviced apartments, showing them to clients, seeing them come and go, seeing the changing fashions for features and equipment.
Right from the start (which, for me was the turn of the century AD2000) I have been aware that this type of accommodation is the future, because it gives people who travel what they want, what they NEED.


Their lives back.


So you have to travel, and going somewhere for a couple of nights - the hotel option makes perfect sense. Everything is done for you, there is a service for everything. But so many people have made the same point to me: "You don't feel at home, you feel as though you're somehow on show".


And you have to type sitting on the bed. And you eat too much rich food.


That's why business travellers need the Hotel Alternative.


Especially if you're going to be there for 4 nights, or more.
Especially if the family want to come visit.
Especially if you're a female traveller and want to be left alone.
Especially if you travel a lot.
Especially if you are eating a particular diet.


The aim for this blog is to share my experience, knowledge of, my passion for this people-centred way of living, when you have to be somewhere on business for a while.


kind regards
Adrian England

Serviced Apartments in the City of London

So you're coming to London soon on business or as a tourist - and you need somewhere to live? Great, we can help to get you a base from which to explore the UK Capital and keep your employer happy by being close to work.

First we need to talk about where you need to be.

These are the 5 details you need to consider:

1. Arrival date,
2. Expected departure date (flexibility is a great benefit of Hotel Alternatives),
3. Number of bedrooms,
4. Budget-range
5. and your ideal location.

email resident.home@yahoo.co.uk

See you soon.

kind regards
Adrian England
Resident Home