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The 2020 Guide to London Basics for Relocators and Movers: London by phone

We have already noted the most important apps for visitors to London to carry, but it’s also worth remembering the value of a good old-fashioned phone call. Spending half an hour before travelling loading your phone with a few emergency numbers can mean help is quickly at hand when things don’t go to plan.

How do London’s phone numbers work?

It may seem obvious to regular travellers, but you should start by making sure you understand how the basic phone codes work. To call London from abroad, first dial your own country’s exit code (normally 00, but 011 in Canada and the US). When phoning a UK number, you need to add the UK country code 44 and remove the 0 from the start of the area code. The London area code is 020, so a call from the US to London will begin 011 44 20, followed by the local 8-digit number, which will start with 7 (central London), 8 (Greater London) or 3. If you’re calling London from a UK phone, it’s simply the area code (020) followed by the local 8-digit number.

What numbers should I have stored in my mobile while in London?

While in London, the Baron would recommend you have the following numbers at your fingertips:

999: The emergency number. Once connected, you will be offered a choice of police, ambulance, fire or coastguard. If speaking would endanger you, remain silent and enter 55 when prompted. The 999 number was the world’s first automated emergency code, introduced in July 1937, and initially covering a 12-mile radius around London’s Oxford Circus. It was chosen as it was at the end of the dial, so could be felt for in darkness or fire.

112: The global emergency number, which you can use in London and in 127 countries including the UK.

111: For non-emergency health calls, this will connect you to an advisor who can help you decide if you need an ambulance or to speak to a suitable health practitioner.

101: The non-emergency police number, for reporting crimes such as criminal damage that do not require an emergency response.

116 123: For the Samaritans, whose volunteers will listen without judgement to anyone who needs to talk. The service is free and the call won’t show on your bill. The organization was founded in London in 1953 by a vicar named Chad Varah.

118 500: For Directory Enquiries, where you can request a phone number; or you can speak to an operator by dialling 100.

00: The UK exit code. So, to call the US, you need to dial 00, then 1, then the number.

Also make sure you have your ‘Find My Phone’ app loaded: these numbers are only useful on your mobile if you haven’t lost your mobile!

REMEMBER:

You can call 999 even when your phone is locked, your balance is zero, and you don’t have a signal.

Are there still phone boxes in London?

There are modern phone kiosks in London, which variously accept coins and credit cards, and have internet connectivity. There are also still examples of London’s traditional red phone boxes, designed in 1924 by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, and voted in 2015 as the greatest British design of all time. Many red phone boxes are now Instagram stars, snapped ironically (or not!) on tourists’ mobile phones. You can have fun tracking down Scott’s original K2 wooden prototype at Burlington House in Piccadilly.

The other number our guests will need in their contacts list is our direct number (+44 (0)208 241 3153), as we’re always available to address any enquiry about our luxury apartments, to try to accommodate any request, and share our knowledge about living in the wonderful city of London.

If you want to want to talk to me, Ali, this is my business and I’m a Londoner who has lived in this area all my life. We have been hosting business travellers and families from around the world for many years. I would love to talk to you about how we can help your visit, working stay or relocation feel like you’ve not just moved house, but moved home. Just give me a call!

The 2020 Guide to London Basics
for Relocators and Movers: Staying healthy in London

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Knowing how to stay healthy while staying in London has never been more important. London has all the health advantages of a dynamic, modern capital, but you should still learn the basics. No vaccinations are required. Tap water is safe to drink and friendlier to the planet than bottled water. Remember, 999 is the number to call for genuine medical emergencies, use 111 for non-emergency advice. EU nationals can currently receive free emergency treatment with a European Health Insurance Card (www.ehic.org.uk). Residents of countries including Australia and New Zealand can receive free emergency treatment and subsidised dental treatment through the National Health Service (NHS, www.nhs.uk). If you’re staying for over a year, register with a doctor (GP or General Practitioner) near where you are living. Most importantly, take out travel insurance before you travel.

What about coronavirus?

So, what is the health advice in London for coronavirus or Covid-19? It’s a fast-changing situation throughout the world, so keep up with news broadcasts and be aware of the symptoms: cough, high temperature or fever, shortness of breath. If you think you may have the virus, particularly if you have come from a high-risk area in the last 14 days, you should NOT go to a GP surgery or hospital, but should instead stay home, avoid other people (‘self-isolate’) and phone 111 for advice. To minimize your chances of catching the virus, wash hands regularly with soap and hot water for 20 seconds, and use hand sanitizers; catch coughs and sneezes in tissues, and dispose of them; avoid close contact with people who are unwell; and avoid touching your face if your hands are not clean.

Does London have other health issues?

Is it true that the city has poor air quality? Like many cities, London faces challenges to reduce pollution and become greener. Its enduring nickname of the Old Smoke comes from a historic reputation for smog, a mixture of fog and smoke from coal fires. The air is cleaner these days, helped by interventions such as the Congestion Charge and the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone), which charge motorists for driving into central London, and the introduction of hybrid, hydrogen, electric or ultra-low emission buses. A recent study indicated that air quality on the Underground is worse than at ground level, particularly on the Victoria line, so one health tip is to use buses or overground trains. London is also one of the greenest capitals in Europe, with green space forming 47 per cent of the city. There are eight famous Royal Parks (www.royalparks.org.uk/), known as the city’s ‘green lungs’, including our own wonderful Richmond Park (www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park), famous for its ancient trees and herds of deer. London also has over 8 million trees, nearly one per inhabitant. So, perhaps you could find your own favourite tree in nearby Marble Hill Park and pay it regular visits. There are plenty to go round!

At 20 the Barons, we can offer our guests guidance to local GP practices, and advise on local cycling, running and walking routes as well as local exercise classes. We also offer luxury serviced apartments where you can keep yourself to yourself much more easily than in a hotel. Our luxury linen and super king-size beds will help you sleep; we provide yoga mats; and your kitchen is fully equipped to provide for your own healthy eating.

If you want to want to talk to me, Ali, this is my business and I’m a Londoner who has lived in this area all my life. We have been hosting business travellers and families from around the world for many years. I would love to talk to you about how we can help your relocation feel like you’ve not just moved house, but moved home.

REMEMBER:

We might be famous for our Full English Breakfast, but we don’t eat it every day! There are many healthy eating options and cafés in our St Margarets community, including our local delicatessen Zoran’s.

DID YOU KNOW:

A ‘pea souper’ was the name given to the thick, yellowish fog that used to hang over London in Victorian times. It was also known as a ‘London particular’, which in turn was the name given to a thick pea and ham soup!

The 2020 Guide to London Basics
for Relocators and Movers

What To Download?

Whether you’re relocating to London, moving here for a short-term contract, or just visiting, it is not just about packing the right belongings in your suitcase these days, it’s also about packing the right apps. There’s a world of developers hidden away in dingy basements – ‘silicon valets’, if you will – working away to offer instant expertise in your new city, which with a simple download you can have instantly at your fingertips.

What are the best London apps?

So, what are the essential London apps to pack, to help you unlock the secret cogs and wheels of the city in an instant? Well, Citymapper should be the first item in your survival kit. Tell it where you want to go, and it will map your journey, offer you different transport options, and pretty much hold your hand until you get there. It will help you master London’s iconic red buses so that you can explore the city properly, and also get you home any time you can’t quite manage by yourself. You could also pack your Uber although there are current question marks over their London licence and there’s also nothing quite like a London black cab. For greener travellers and an even more intimate introduction to the city, make sure you have Transport for London’s city bike app . London’s weather is not as rainy as they say, but it is very changeable, so keep one step ahead by having the Met Office Weather Forecast in your suitcase. And to plan your visits to London’s highlife and highlights, what better guide than the official Visit London app.

What are the best relocation apps?

If you’re relocating to London, then you can pack a second virtual suitcase with some organizing apps to make the move as painless as possible. If you’re bringing a lot of belongings with you, then also bring them on your phone by creating a visual inventory and checklist on Sortly. And if you want to know how you’re going to fit all that into your new home, then you can pass some travel time playing with virtual floorplans on MagicPlan. With those apps in the bag, a virtual organizer such as Evernote allows you to use your phone to coordinate all those lists you’re going to need to make. Many travellers are now travelling with virtual money, so don’t forget to pack your bank in your pocket with an app such as Monzo . And remember that relocating can be lonely in the early days, so make sure you can keep in touch for free with friendly faces back home by packing your Skype.

Learn more about 20 the Barons

Of course, your most important consideration is where you’re going to be living. At 20 the Barons, we pride ourselves on offering any local knowledge and inside information that your  apps can’t provide, so that you feel like a local in no time. And whether we’re a stepping stone or your long-term home, we offer the security and comfort of a mansion block of serviced apartments that combines period architecture with modern technology, in one of the most desirable locations in London: https://20thebarons.co.uk/.

Ali Watts

If you want to want to talk to me, Ali, this is my business and I’m a Londoner who has lived in this area all my life. We have been hosting business travellers and families from around the world for many years. I would love to talk to you about how we can help your relocation feel like you’ve not just moved house, but moved home.

t. +44 (0)208 241 3153
m. +44 (0)7972 601 613
e. alison@20thebarons.co.uk

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Live Like A Local

We are often asked, what’s the difference between a serviced apartment and a hotel? For us, one of the most important advantages of a serviced apartment is that you can feel properly at home – particularly if you are staying for a few months or longer.

While there is something exciting about a hotel when you first check in, a hotel room can become a rather lonely place if you stay for too long (Alan Partridge and Coco Chanel might disagree!). The same four walls. Having to go to the restaurant for a meal. A room that’s the same as all the other rooms. No kitchen, just a kettle. Room service just when you don’t want room service.

With a serviced apartment, you still have the excitement of checking in to an intriguing and luxurious new place. We give everyone a personal welcome to show you all the rooms, and help you familiarize yourselves instantly with all the appliances – the all-mod-cons kitchen, the hi-tech entertainment system, the luxury bathroom. We introduce the housekeeping options and show you how to work the heating and cooling. We open the doors and show you the views from the balcony. We know you might be tired after travelling, so we help you feel at home and then we leave you alone until you need us.

All of our apartments have their own styling, their own little antiques and details, to make them as individual as the people who stay in them. And you are, of course, free to add your own special touches. You are free to watch the sunset from your balcony, chat with friends on the patio, play in the garden with your kids, or take your dogs for a walk along the banks of the Thames. You are also free to cook in your own luxury kitchen, or on the barbecue in the garden. If you’re feeling lazy we’ll make sure you have the knowledge on the best local takeaways. If you’re feeling indulgent, we know the way to the best local restaurants.

We know how important it is for our guests to know what to do and where to go if you’re ill; to know how local transport works, or what the rules are if you’ve got your own transport; to know where the best places are to take your kids, the best locations if you feel like being on your own, the best pubs if you feel like being sociable. We’re not running 100 rooms or processing 1,000 guests, we’re looking after our new friends in seven luxury apartments.

That’s why our guests, however long they stay, don’t live like they are living in a hotel. They live like a local. They have local knowledge. And they seem to love it.

The Mindful Baron

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If ever there were a time to introduce mindfulness into your life, it is now. As the world grows busier, spins faster, feels crazier and becomes more crowded, it is easy to find yourself running like a hamster in a busy wheel.

At 20 The Barons, we’ve started to heed the message that in order to feel happier and healthier it is helpful to take time out for yourself; to stop and breathe for a moment every once in a while, to rebalance yourself and give some of your energy to your own wellbeing. We try to ensure that one part of the service in our serviced apartments is to make it as easy as possible for our lovely guests to do the same.

1. Make time for yourself

What many of our guests have in common is that they lead successful but very busy lives, giving so much of their time to others that there’s not much left over for themselves. We are fortunate to live within striking distance of central London but in a quiet, tree-lined crescent. Say that again a few times, “A quiet, tree-lined crescent…” It’s amazing how easy it is to meditate.

2. Breathe

While our lives depend upon the air we suck into them, we rarely stop to think about how we breathe. Taking ten minutes out to close your eyes, to experience your breathing, to feel each breath as it enters through your nose, fills your lungs and spreads through your body, and to slowly slow your breaths down, is a simple way of shutting out the rest of the world and giving yourself some attention.

3. Relax

Go and sit in our garden, we have roses for you to stop and smell. We’re also providing yoga mats for those who wish to stretch their minds and bodies. And there is nothing quite like slipping into our apartments’ luxury slipper baths, lighting a few scented candles, and zoning out beneath the bliss of bubbles. We call it ‘putting on your slippers’.

4. Be in the moment

You are wonderful. You are magical. Take some time out to remind yourself of that. Stop thinking about yesterday or worrying about that appointment you have tomorrow, and get your mind back into the present, the moment, the now. We have some beautiful parks a short walk away, and a rather lovely little river called the Thames to accompany you on your journey.

What do you do to keep yourself feeling well and happy?

A Cup of Tea

It was galling enough to watch our lionesses being recently mauled, in true errant-penalty English style (good to see they’ve learned something from the chaps!), by the USA women’s football team. But when the redoubtable US striker, Alex Morgan, celebrated her goal with apparent mockery of true English style (by not only miming the act of drinking that sacred English institution, a cup of tea, Sir!, but daring, by Jove!, to stick out her Yankie pinkie while she did so!) and simultaneously cocked a metaphorical snook at our nation of noble tea-drinkers, that nation grew apoplectic and nearly choked on its collective Earl Grey. And the ripples from that cup of tea continue to radiate out through the Twittersphere.

The Baron, on the other hand, is merely intrigued by Ms. Morgan’s signal failure of proper tea-drinking etiquette. You know, the pinkie thing. Not in the sense of ridiculing old John Bull. We have recently, after all, rather invited that. But simply insomuch as the sporting young lady has completely misrepresented the true Englishness manner of tea drinking, casting it aside like tea chests into a Boston harbor. For not even the most reckless or wilful of debutantes would ever make the heinous error of sipping her Darjeeling with little finger outstretched. It is, you see, considered vulgar, along with adding the milk before the tea has brewed, swirling instead of stirring, grasping the bowl of the cup, sipping from the spoon, looking into the tea cup instead of over it, slurping and, most heinous of all, dunking!

These tea-drinking faux pas and aberrations are, indeed, something one might expect of an American gal, not a true English gentlewoman. And so, Miss Morgan, I might dare to suggest that, whilst it would be errant of The Baron not to extend his own little finger in congratulations on your exceptional performance, in terms of tea-drinking celebration, you are a long way from winning the cup.