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Native Aparthotels & Apartments In London

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The History of Native Glasgow

The Golden Age of Travel

Handysides and Henderson was at its prime, building its own ships, transporting hundreds of thousands of people and goods across the world, and even launching the first merchant vessel to cross the Suez Canal. In 1906, a seven-storey white Carrara marble building (our new home) was built on St Vincent Place, just off George Square, as the bespoke offices of what was now known as the Anchor Line Shipping Company. It was designed by James Miller, the man behind the 1905 extension to Glasgow Central railway station, the Union Bank and many other prominent buildings in Glasgow and London.

Image: Anchor Line Ship

The demise of the Anchor Line Building

The next few decades were eventful ones, where the First World War saw half of Anchor Line’s ships sunk by enemy forces, and the company changed hands, names and routes across the globe. In 1965, the company was bought by Moor Line and the Anchor Line Building closed its doors.

2018 – The arrival of Native Glasgow

In celebration of the Anchor Line Building’s past we’ve kept many of its original features and plenty of the luxury ocean liner décor that filled these headquarters over 100 years ago. When you stay with us, you’ll see it throughout the building, from the reception and restaurants to your very own apartment. Glazed tiles, terrazzo flooring, cruise ship inspired carpets, wood panelled walls and fireplaces – it’s all there. All alongside the hotel-style perks you’d expect from brilliantly serviced apartments, like a 24-hour reception, concierge and breakfast.

Image: Native Glasgow

You’ll also find tons of original artwork from Anchor Line’s heyday in The Anchor Line restaurant downstairs.

Image: Memorabilia in The Anchor Line restaurant

Oh, and when you can finally bring yourself to step outside your new pied-à-terre, don’t miss the irresistibly Instagrammable nautical emblems adorning the façade – seaweed, shells and sailors, all freshly glazed after hiding behind decades of dust and grime. You’ll want to collect them all.

So, there we are – a little introduction to our brand new Glasgow aparthotel. We hope you’ll love it as much as we do.

Book your stay in Glasgow today.

An Insider’s Guide to Serviced Apartments

  • Nuestra casa es su casa

While you’re away, there’s nothing better than coming back to some solid home comforts. For some people, this means whipping up a three-course meal in our fully-equipped kitchen; for others, it simply means kicking back in front of the TV and catching up on the latest boxsets. Whatever makes you feel at home, you can indulge at Native.

  • Concierge, not control

Ever tried to sneak a pizza past the night porter at a hotel? With a serviced apartment, there’s no need for such clandestine measures – you can even order in a takeaway if you want. At the same time, we’re on hand to help 24/7 if you lose your keys, suffer a maintenance crisis or have any other concerns that need resolving.

  • Postal possibilities

With the rise of food delivery services such as Hello Fresh, more and more people are having healthy, farm-fresh ingredients couriered to their door so they can prepare nutritious meals at home. You can’t do this in a hotel – you can in an aparthotel.

  • Never miss breakfast again

Those who have stayed in their fair share of hotels and hostels will know the inconvenience of having to get up in time to make a breakfast which finishes at 10am – especially if things got a little carried away the night before. With your own kitchen, you set the rules.

  • Weekly spruce

Aparthotels aren’t just for short stays, either. If you need your own space for an extended period, they can provide an excellent option as well – especially given that any stay of longer than one week comes with a weekly cleaning service as standard. Can’t say fairer than that.

  • Insider info

Our Natives know the neighbourhood like the back of their hand, so they can give you the lowdown on anything from where to take the kids on a rainy day to the best greasy spoon for hangover breakfasts to banish the memories of the night before.

Get in touch today

If you’re looking to try something different with your next planned trip, why not give one of Native serviced apartments or aparthotels a go? We have more apartments than you can shake a stick at and are happy to help with any advice or info you might need on a location best suited to you. Give us a call +44(0)20 7313 3886 or drop us an email today. We’re waiting to hear from you!

Tips for travelling with a toddler in London

Activities

There are plenty of toddler-friendly activities to do in London to keep your tot entertained. Many London attractions let children under the age of 5 in for free and it’s worth doing some research to find ones appealing to you and your family. If museums are right up your street, the Science Museum in Kensington has many toddler-friendly exhibits to challenge and thrill your little ones or, head next door to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaur bones.

If you’d prefer to be outside, London has several zoos and city farms. Many of the farms are free to enter and offer great opportunities for your child to meet and pet all sorts of animals.

Green Spaces

As well as plenty of activities, it’s important to visit some of London’s green spaces so your toddler can run about and work off some energy. Hyde Park has lots of wide open places to explore and is a convenient distance from Buckingham Palace if a visit there is on your list of things to do.

There are also many garden squares dotted about the city. Formerly private gardens for the residences lining the streets around them, many are now open to the public. They offer a smaller and often quieter alternative to the larger parks. Try Russell Square near the British Museum for a lovely example of London’s garden squares. We do recommend a visit to Hyde Park too.

Bring Snacks

Snacks fix everything.

Even with a list of the best things to do with toddlers in hand, you never know when you are going to be stuck in an unmoving queue or trapped on a delayed train with a fractious tot becoming hungrier by the minute. Make sure you have a selection of healthy and nutritious snacks to keep hunger at bay until you can find a suitable place for lunch.

A Good Place to Stay

It’s tempting to stay in the outskirts and travel into London to see the sights, but travelling with a toddler on public transport which can be stressful for everyone involved, especially if it’s during rush hour.

To minimise time spent travelling, consider an apartment in London itself. We offer short stay apartments in 10 different locations in London. No matter where you wish to visit, our apartments are either next to or offer excellent transport links for you to use. All our apartments come with fully equipped kitchens so you can prepare meals and comfy beds so you can get a good night’s rest before heading out on your next day exploring. For the perfect place for you and your toddler from which to explore London, contact us now for further information on booking one of our apartments.

How to Feel at Home When Travelling

Personalise your space

Bringing a few trinkets with you, such as photographs, electronics, books or home furnishings, can help make your accommodation a little homelier – but they can only go so far, especially with hotel housekeeping reassembling your room every single morning. Luckily, our Native apartments come with a weekly cleaning service to ensure you receive excellent service, but allow more freedom in personalising the space to your taste. And what’s more you can be left in peace to enjoy your city stay!

Reawaken your senses

Memory is closely tied to smell, so packing a few home fragrances, in the form of incense, candles or essential oils, will remind you of home and help you feel settled in your new abode.

Cook a favourite meal

There’s nothing quite like a home-cooked meal to make you feel like you’re back in your own house. With our fully equipped kitchens you can cook whatever you like – whether it’s a family favourite or a personal indulgence – and at any time you like. You’re not forced to adhere to strict mealtimes or stodgy takeaway diets. Hallelujah!

Take a little me-time

One of the best ways to unwind is to pig out on the sofa in front of your favourite boxset, pizza in hand. We hear ya. Trying to replicate that experience in a hotel is never quite the same and can earn you disapproving stares (or worse!) from the front desk, who might catch you sneaking fast food through the foyer. In our apartments your kitchen is your domain and you can eat what you like when you like.

Immersive yourself in local knowledge

One of the most disconcerting things about a foreign city can be, well, its foreignness. In a metropolis as big and bustling as London, it’s easy to get lost or become bogged down in the simplest decision, such as where to grab a bite to eat or settle down for a drink. Our Neighbourhood Guides that are found in our apartments or can point you in the right direction for local hotspots, while our team of Native experts are on hand to help you out with any more complicated questions you may have.

Want to learn more about how aparthotels and serviced apartments can provide a homelier experience than a hotel room? Our friendly team of Natives will be happy to answer any queries you may have, so feel free to drop us a message on social @nativeplacesuk or email us.

Pie, Mash and Liquor – Where to Try Traditional London Foods

Pie, mash and liquor – F Cooke, South Hackney Contrary to what you may think, the liquor in the title doesn’t refer to hard alcohol but rather a savoury parsley sauce which adds flavour and fluid to the pie and mash. F Cooke is one of the few remaining pie shops in the country to sprinkle sawdust on the floor (traditionally used to keep eel bones from turning the floor slippery) and serves a beautiful beef and gravy pie, accompanied with the requisite mash and liquor, for under £4.

Jellied eels – Clark’s, Exmouth Market Eels are another staple traditionally sold alongside pie, mash and liquor, primarily because eels had a strong enough constitution to survive the highly-polluted Thames River in the 18th century and so comprised a large part of a Londoner’s diet. A good portion can be got from F Cooke mentioned above, but Clark’s in Exmouth Market is a great throwback as well, having opened in 1910. The jelly is not for the faint-hearted, but the eels themselves are positively delicious.

Jugged hare – The Jugged Hare, Barbican As the name suggests, this dish simply consists of an entire hare diced and then cooked inside a jug. The Barbican restaurant has forged an impressive reputation on this dish alone, stewing its bunnies for several days over and serving them up with creamy mash and a side of greens. If you can try not to think about poor old Bugs Bunny, you’ll surely enjoy this heart-warming hug in a mug.

Fish and chips – Golden Union, Soho It doesn’t get much more quintessentially British than fish and chips, and the Golden Union knows how to get this dish right. Don’t be fooled by its flashy interior; despite appearances, this Soho stalwart has been in business for over a century and a half. Serving only sustainable fish and perfect chips (crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside), it’s an ideal introduction to a British favourite.

Chelsea bun – Flour Station, Borough Market, Southwark Legend has it that when the Old Chelsea Bun House in Pimlico first opened its doors in the early 18th century, it prompted people to queue in their thousands and required late-night policing for its 3am closing time. Today, the buns are far more readily available – but they’re nowhere better than at the Flour Station in Borough Market, where they’re best enjoyed with another British institution: copious cups of tea. Stay nearby at our perfectly located Native hotel near Southbank.

Source a traditional restaurant close to your accommodation Keen to try out one of these London fancies while you’re in town? When you stay at a Native apartment, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you will be within walking distance of a plethora of superb restaurants, bakeries and bistros. What’s more, we have the local knowledge to point you in the right direction to try any of the above dishes and others, so you’re guaranteed to soak up the best of the local culture (along with the local gravy) during your stay. Find out more about our Neighbourhood Heroes.

Bear Baiting and Tea Trading: The Secret History of Native Bankside

Bear-baiting and Shakespeare

Bankside has always been a hub for entertainment. Bear Gardens gets its name from the famous ‘bear-baiting’ ring that stood here, where exotic animals were forced to fight each other as a form of violent entertainment. Luckily that all stopped in 1835! To this day theatre-goers are still attracted by the bus load thanks to the famous Shakespearean theatre The Rose and Globe theatre close by.

Bear-baiting in action

Empire Warehouse was born

Fast forward to Victorian times, and thanks to the industrial revolution, the Bankside area became crammed with the iconic brick warehouses and factories. It was then that the original Empire Warehouse was born.

Over its lifetime spanning the 20th Century, the Empire Warehouse and its surrounding buildings became home to Victorian pattern card makers and tobacconists, to name a few. Tea traders Appleton Machin & Smiles operated in the warehouse for most of its life, giving it a lot of it’s original features that you can still see today.

The transformation of Native Bankside

After the 1970s, the Empire Warehouse sat empty for decades, until we came along and breathed new life into it. We’ve restored many of it’s original features and injected charm and glamour into these unique warehouse-style apartments.

The Empire Warehouse Today, Native Bankside

Visit Bankside

Walking down quiet Bear Gardens, you won’t feel like you’re in one of London’s most visited neighbourhoods. So why not come and explore the area and find out why it’s so popular?

Book your stay at Native Bankside today.