When did you join onefinestay?

June 22nd. 

And what is it that you do?

I'm in Operations. I look after guests - from when they arrive to when they leave. I make sure the homes are fit for them, this includes arranging maintenance, cleaning and stocking for them. I'm also Scooter commander in chief - anything that needs 'scooted' - i'm your man.

Where do you live in London?

Halfway between Angel and Old St tube stations, right by onefinestay HQ – my commute is a breeze....

Where do you wish you lived in London?

I’m quite happy where I am to be honest...

What is your favourite type of tea and why?

I love Green and Black tea equally, to choose a favourite would be an insult to the other...

When making a cup of tea, do you pour in the milk or the tea first?

I never use milk, milk is bad! Although never tell anyone this - they’ll just look at you like you’re mad.

Who would be the guest of honour at your dinner party?

King Julian from Madagascar. A true entertainer.

What is your favourite word?

Onomatopoeia or Phosphorus. For no other reason than they sound cool.

When did you last get lost?

On my first day on the Scooter. It took me an hour to get to Mayfair on a journey that now takes me 9 minutes. I’d never seen so many No Entry and One Way signs in my life.

When did you last have an epiphany?

When I rode the scooter for the first time and realised I wanted a proper motorbike. I’d always been against the idea. A Kawasaki Ninja will do.

What is the furthest North you’ve been?

Aberdeen. Gaelic for hyperthermia, as Billy Connolly used to call it.

What was the best experience you ever had on holiday?

Staring out the window of a cab at the famous Las Vegas skyline. I'm an avid poker player and had wanted to go there since I was a kid, it was amazing seeing it all come to life.

Tell us a secret.

Never.

Primrose Hill is as idyllic as it sounds, a London village peopled by the great, the good, and the just plain gorgeous. With breathtaking views across the city just moments away in Regent’s Park, and an almost unbearably chic collection of cafes, boutiques and restaurants right by your front door, you won’t be short on places to hide behind your sunnies.

This is Chalcot Crescent, literally seconds from Primrose Hill.

It’s got the looks, it’s got the height, and, with interiors as flawless as Sienna Miller’s skin, this house is box office gold…

From that first double take, Chalcot Crescent will leave you struggling to keep your cool. 

With wallpaper like that in the bathroom, only an interior designer could live here. 

http://onefinestay.com/chalcotcrescent

Perched atop Highgate Hill, Cromwell Avenue is surely the most elegant of eyries.

Our hostess, an opera-loving architect who’s spent her career manifesting the ambitions of others, a few years ago, here at her home in Cromwell Avenue she decided to realise her own ambitions.She indulged her passion for preserving the best of Victorian architecture – she quite literally wrote the book on it – and Cromwell Avenue is her masterpiece.

This house is design perfected: it is, also, very much a home, and a home I’d want to live in. 

The master bedroom. 

A children's room which might have come straight from Peter Pan, remember to pack the fairy dust...

http://onefinestay.com/cromwellavenue

This is Evan Frank, VP International.  

When did you join onefinestay?

 June.

And what is it that you do?

I design and build unhotels around the world. 

Where do you live in London?

A fellow NY expat described Notting Hill to me as the ‘East Village meets Ann Arbor' (the leafy Midwestern college town where I went to university) when I was first coming over. Before even stepping foot in the neighbourhood I was sold, and after 5 years and three separate flats in Notting Hill, I'm still here. I’ve even spent time as a street trader at Portobello Market.

Where do you wish you lived in London?

In a Georgian Townhouse on Fournier Street in Whitechapel. It’s a row of amazing terraced homes built mostly in the 1720s, in the middle of E1 and a 10 minute walk east from Tayyabs for an evening curry and ladoo (past the bell foundry where the Liberty Bell was manufactured); or west for shopping at Spitalfieds market.  

What is your favourite type of tea and why?

I was never into tea before I travelled in India and had chai from the roadside stands & street cafes. After joining onefinestay, I’ve gotten into the more traditional tea and look forward to tea time every day. 

What is your favourite word?

I quite like calling British people ‘dude’. At first they don’t know how to react, but after a little while I find they really like it and start calling me ‘dude’ back. 

Evan with his 'dudes'.

When did you last get lost?

In the Lake District. I was expecting waymarked paths like in the Cotswolds. I didn’t even bring a raincoat, which in retrospect was crazy because the weather changes so quickly up there. So I got lost in a monsoon on the side of a mountain somewhere, couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me, and quite honestly was lucky to make it out by nightfall. 

What was the best experience you ever had on holiday?

Staying at the Kyrimai Hotel for a week in the Peloponnese, driving around the abandoned villages in the Mani. It’s an amazing area, eerily quiet and just totally unspoilt by tourism. But the Kyrimai is a swish hotel at the southern tip on the peninsula. 

Tell us a secret.

My gym mix features songs by Alicia Keys, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Oh and Britney Spears.

Every guest gets an iPhone when they come to stay at the unhotel. It’s a bit like the phone you’d find in your hotel room; you can use it to set up wake up calls, order room service, and get in touch with the concierge.

A typical hotel room phone. Old and weary. 

And yet, it really is nothing like that phone you'd find in your hotel room.  For starters, it's an iPhone, so you can take it with you around London. While you're out, you have access to a personalised guide from the host, which includes; best breakfasts, what to do with the kids and where to find the coolest clubs and bars in town. 

The iPhone can help you out around the home too. So, if you need to know how to use the washing machine or work that fancy coffee machine, just open the app, scan the nearby bar code sticker, and the instructional video appears instantly on your phone. 

Oh, and one other thing. Make sure to keep your eyes out for bar code stickers around the home, as some of them reveal the stories behind objects in the home like interesting works of art or an eclectic record collection.  

And that is how we've brought the hotel room phone up to date. 

The onefinestay app: maps, videos and your personalised guide to London. 

This is Tim Davey, Co-Founder and Head of Technology

When did you join onefinestay?

Over a year ago. Greg had me at Hello.

And what is it that you do?

I head up the tech team.

Where do you live in London?

I've recently moved into a stunning Grade II listed Georgian terrace in Stockwell. I'm between Brixton and Stockwell, so its close to edgy artists, but also only 15 minutes to the center of town. 

Who would be your guest of honour at your dinner party?

I want to say Tony Stark (big cartoon fan over here), he's pretty much the reason why I got into companies and crime-fighting. But I know better than to meet your hero, so I'm thinking it'd have to be someone more like Prof. Moriarty. Now there's a dude who knows how to put a plan together; he's a total charmer and clearly he would tell good stories, so the other guests would totally love him! 

What is your favourite word?

Cwtch. Its a welsh word which doesn’t really exist in English. It means something along the lines of a big hug, or a person who's really good at hugging, or maybe even a big fat sofa which is awesome for hugging on. I'm sure you get the idea, cuddles are the name of the game...

When did you last get lost?

I seem to always be getting lost. When I was a kid I was always wondering off and nearly going off with total strangers. Not sure if I was making friends or looking for my marbles. Most people get scared when they get lost, but one thing you never are when lost, is bored. So, bring it on and throw away the map.

When did you last have an epiphany? 

Four steps ago.

What was the best experience you ever had on holiday?

In my second year of uni I headed out to San Francisco for the summer. You'd think I went for all the flowers and hippies, but it was all about the business. I was with some absolutely brilliant people and somehow we managed to get the company off the ground. We had no money, slept on dirty garage floors, hot wired phone entry systems and crashed millionaire valley parties. 

What is your favourite spot in London which you wouldn’t find on a map?

There's this tiny jazz club in Dalston, open one night in about every two months. Located in a stunning war-era church, its got a 1930s theme, with live bands, burlesque dancers and cocktails. And it's invitation only, which always makes you feel a bit special. 

Tell us a secret.

 The only thing I've ever stolen is a one penny sweet when I eight. It's plagued my conscience ever since... and its a genuine secret, I've never told anyone! Until now, but only because I'm pretty sure the sweet shop can't still be keeping tabs on me.

What will the title of your memoirs be?

Lost and Found. 

We were singled out in Vicky Baker’s recent article on goinglocaltravel.com for being part of a trend for travel buzzwords by our coining of the word ‘unhotel’. “How long before people start calling themselves ‘un-travellers’?” she asked.

A flurry of debate broke out on the blog’s comments. Were these travel buzzwords (unhotel, untour, staycation) just marketing gaff or necessary so people can understand what on earth it is you’re talking about. I went for the latter. You do need to leave some sort of clue in the name when creating a new category, and we did consider ‘ghost house’ as an alternative to ‘unhotel’, but that sounded a bit creepy. 

And a kindly gentleman thus commented:

“I unhate unhotel; it’s unboring. I was intrigued enough to look it up. Some terms are meant to be twisted and subverted, others not so much. You wouldn’t buy un-nappies or fly in an unplane; but a maturing hipster, who already drinks unbeer and wears unclothes, would definitely stay in an unhotel.”

So it looks like for now we’re getting away with our trendy buzzword, and with that I’ll leave you with the 1970s uncola advertising campaign for 7UP.  

It was important to Mr Forster. His novel of the same name opens with characters grumbling about the view from their hotel room. “A room with a view’, they were promised, only their rooms overlook a courtyard. 

Fortunately, today we have unhotels. Here, there’s no getting away from the views. Here are some of the better ones…

and day

Or you could capture the view by living on the Thames itself.

But if it's football that floats your boat, try watching over Arsenal's Emirates Stadium from the high points of a converted church, or a rooftop terrace near the Caledonian Road. 

So there you have it, our favourite views out of the window of the unhotel. And interesting views are clearly very important to guests... 

Here at London’s first unhotel, we are big believers in what we do. Our hosts believe in us, too: we provide a service that makes the most of their space while they are out of town and earns them a little extra income to help pay for the next holiday, or offset the cost of the mortgage. Our guests, whether families who couldn’t bear to visit our city unless they can stay in a home, or business travellers who want to cook themselves dinner after a day in the office, seem similarly delighted. And houses are filled rather than standing empty, preventing waste and keeping local shops and restaurants ticking over. Everybody wins. 

So we were disappointed to learn that this past weekend New York passed a law which bans apartment rentals for less than 30 days. 

This law was drafted in response to a very specific activity that’s been going on for years in New York: landlords have converted swathes of apartment buildings into temporary hotels without the necessary zoning permits. Some of the units are even rent controlled or rent stabilized and would otherwise offer affordable housing to those in need. Besides the ethical implications, this practice causes other problems. Because such operators are cutting costs, they often play fast and loose with health, fire and safety regulations and the rooms are often misadvertised, giving the guest limited recourse. Off the back of lightly-policed Internet listing services, which provide free advertising for this kind of activity, the number of these ‘no-tels’ has exploded over the past few years. 

Recently, however, several innovative business models have emerged, which embrace more respectable business practice. Rich photography and apartment descriptions greatly increase transparency. Reviews and user generated content are shown prominently next to listings on sites, ensuring that guests have complete information before committing. Care is taken to exceed statutory fire safety standards. Lines of communication between property owners or their representatives and guests are available during guest stays. Payment is made with reputable means that do not evade tax. And there are is a reliable middle man to mediate should guests be dissatisfied with their experiences.

The law passed in New York was drafted so broadly it doesn’t discriminate between these two extremes. It lumps the respectable entrepreneurs with the shady traders. Unless there are clarifying amendments, when this act kicks in next year it will mean everybody loses. First guests, who can’t afford New York hotel rates of $232 on average will be forced to rely on the anonymous and less reliable alternatives. Next homeowners, who will either find their private arrangements criminalised or be forced to forego much-needed income. Then city authorities, which by criminalising this activity lose the potential for significant tax revenues from a $1bn short-term sublet industry—and exacerbate the issues of transparency, legitimacy and safety. And last but not least, the city itself, whose local restaurants, shops and attractions rely on tourists to keep the lights on: last year, each visitor spent $700 on average during their trip to NYC. 

We want to see unhotels in every major world city, and it would be a great shame if New York wasn’t on that list. As such, we hope that respectable innovators will have the freedom to operate their businesses in a manner that can fully benefit local New York property owners, visitors and the local ecosystem.