SHORT & SWEET With the suits of London’s City safely ensconced in their Home Counties retreats, it was time for a family trip to the heartbeat of the country’s financial district. We were heading for Calico House, one of a number of self service apartments run by The Cheval Group, arguably London’s leading provider of luxury serviced apartments. Trying to find Bow Lane in the pouring rain is one thing, doing it with a Hackney up your exhaust is another, but we made it!
Irate fare-chasing cab drivers aside, I do enjoy driving through the centre of London when traffic isn’t stifling the life out of me and the thousands of other motorists jostling for position. The City is particularly lifeless any time after 9pm on a Friday evening, so getting to St Paul’s Cathedral was relatively straightforward, even though finding Bow Lane wasn’t quite so obvious, especially with an insistent ‘sat nav’ instructor. To see St Paul’s bathed in floodlights was enough to convince us it was a must-see for Sunday’s stroll, and not one minute’s drive was Bow Lane. On a Saturday evening, street parking is permitted, although it is an uneasy feeling leaving your car on a single yellow line anywhere, not least in the car-clamp happy capital! Bow Lane is a charming side street, with a concentration of national and independent shops, restaurants and bars – no good to us on a weekend as they were all firmly shut, but one can imagine the bustle during the week. Calico House is set back from the lane in a side alley, but don’t let that shatter the illusion. Quite how so many luxurious apartments can be squeezed into such a seemingly over-burdened patch of land is beyond me, but they have managed it, to great effect. 96
We were shown to our apartment by an extremely helpful porter who showed us around our new home and even called us ten minutes later to see if we had settled in. Cheval’s reputation is based on offering clients the widest possible choice of impeccably furnished accommodation, combined with tireless individual service that is both attentive and discreet. And that’s exactly how we found it – helpful, but not intrusive. Calico House demonstrates that you can mix business with pleasure as, in addition to St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and the Tate Modern Art Gallery are all near neighbours. With refined studios, one and two bedroom apartments, plus penthouse suites, this property embodies the City’s unique atmosphere of tradition and modernity. We literally had time for a quick change before we ventured out into a soggy London, with a cab our only choice. Covent Garden was no more than five minutes away, and although we had to try a couple of restaurants due to high demand, we eventually discovered a welcoming but incredibly modern Indian restaurant. Being so close to such a vibrant part of London means that Calico House is a superb base for sightseeing and theatre goers alike, with the added bonus of a plethora of restaurants to suit the most fastidious diner. www.b4-business.com