The extended stay market of serviced apartments in London is one hidden part of the lodging options in the city. Offering studio flats with a kitchen or even larger options like a two bedroom, two bath option, extended stay options are plentiful but as a leisure traveler you’ve probably never heard of a company like Native or the many others out there. You should definitely consider extended stay apartments when you stay in London especially if you have a family.   I had the opportunity to stay at one of the newest entrants in the market, Native Bankside, a property which was formerly a Victorian tea warehouse and is now newly restored and opened about a year ago.   I won a London silent auction charity bid for a two night weekend stay so I paid less than the standard stay would cost. Even so, the rates are affordable and the value impressive. This is a new category that Native likes to call “hotel apartments’, whatever they call it, I call it one of my new favorites in London.

Native Bankside Location in Southwark/Bankside

Situated down a small alley behind the Globe Theatre, Native Bankside would definitely count as a hidden gem because you need your maps app to find it on Bear Gardens (more an alley than a garden).  But once you are sorted, you’ll realize you are steps away from the Thames and the many cafes and restaurants along Bankside. An added bonus is the boat dock for the Thames Clipper River line (you can use your Oyster transit card to ride on the river line).

I’ve been staying on Bankside/Southwark for my last few visits to London and have found a new appreciation for the residential area that doesn’t (currently) see many tourists leave the main areas along the water and has a handful of hotels. It’s super easy to walk to Borough Market (ten minutes) and the nearby Flat Iron Square, Shard and London Bridge station (15 minutes).

If you turn the other way, you have the Globe, Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge (five minutes’ walk) to cross over the river to St. Paul’s and The City.  You can also access Blackfriars Station on the riverside, the various pop ups and food trucks of Bankside. A walk to the London Eye (20 minutes), Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (30 minutes) and even St. James’s Park and Buckingham Palace.

The Native Bankside property is currently behind Porky’s BBQ and a Starbucks.  At the end of the alley is Pizza Express and a Greek Restaurant next to EAT and other food outlets. CoOp, Sainsbury and Tesco markets are each a 10 minute walk (next to and across from the Blue Fin building and Hilton Bankside). Early morning views below –

Checking In at Native Bankside London

Native Bankside is one of a few staffed properties in the Native property chain (there are 17 Native properties in London as well as one in Manchester and one in Glasgow) – all have access to 24/7 service so don’t worry. The desk had two staff members to welcome us (I was traveling with my country mouse friend), provide key cards, a map and quick overview.  Once the paperwork was complete, we were off to the first floor apartment.  In the UK, the ground floor is floor 0 so the first floor (1) requires the lift (elevator).  We were told there is a small pantry on the first floor with seating area that overlooks the ground floor lobby.  The lobby also had a nice sized seating area which was empty during our visit.

The Pantry at Native Bankside

When the doors opened to the first floor we put our bags aside for a quick look in the pantry.  It was filled with snacks, fruit and bottled water which were complimentary.  It also contained condiments for foods (mustard, ketchup, olive oil, etc.) as well as cereals, snack bars and milk in the fridge. Of course, I was happy to see the bottled water – both room temperature and chilled.

Review: Native Bankside Apartment 112

Our flat was a premium one bedroom with two full bathrooms and a pull out sofa so it could sleep up to four guests. As we entered, we were quite happy, almost giddy to be honest after ten days in a small cruise ship cabin of 110 sq ft. By comparison, the flat was massive and quite impressive.  It was only available for two nights so we really lucked out.

We chucked our bags aside and like curious children began to open all the cabinet doors in the kitchen to see what we had.  We had dishes, glasses, and a coffee maker.  We had a dishwasher and a washer/dryer combo.  We had a small refrigerator and an oven.  We had cleaning supplies and various rubbish bins to sort. This was a furnished kitchen that would definitely suffice for our two days but for those longer term guests, it was a nice perk in London. We met a few guests staying more than a month.

I took the main bedroom and walk in shower option.  My room had a view of the street/alley outside, its own temperature controls and a sliding pocket door for privacy.  I also had my own television.

Native Bankside had arranged the sofa bed so that it was already set out upon arrival which was good and bad.  Good for my friend since it was made up and housekeeping is weekly.  Bad in that we couldn’t use the sofa to watch tv together.  We decamped to our own worlds to watch television.

The main living area had the kitchen, a table for four, a sofa (currently a bed), side chair, coat rack and a television.  But there were two remotes – one for the television and after pressing the buttons, we realized one for the skylight above the sofa bed.   Also in the main living area was a separate temperature control (my friend kept it winter, while my room was summer) as well as a bathroom with soaking tub (my friend loves taking baths and visited Lush to buy a bath bomb).

The flat had its own Wi-Fi router so we both had high speed connections and didn’t need to worry about too many people on the system. The wardrobe in the bedroom had the hairdryer, ironing board and iron.

Note: The property does not provide a safe, umbrella or tissues (yes, tissues!).  I was having allergy issues due to high pollen count so we visited the local market to buy tissues.

Native Bankside Gym

The onsite gym space is a quite small and only a few pieces of equipment but enough to get a workout with.  If you need a full gym, I’d recommend looking at local options for a day pass or longer membership or go for a morning run along the empty Bankside area, along the Thames, with the other runners.

Final Thoughts – Native Bankside London

I was spoiled with my Native Bankside stay.  I had an apartment larger than many of my friends who live in London and really enjoyed it so much that I often wondered “why leave”.  You need to leave though because, well, London awaits to be explored, experienced and enjoyed. For those who want more space or have families and want a kitchen or washer/dryer (although it took forever to wash and dry with a ton of wrinkles), Native Bankside will be the hidden gem that gets you to abandon Airbnb and shun hotels in the near future.   If you want to live like a local, staying on Bankside at Native Bankside gets you one step closer…..although locals I know don’t eat at Pizza Express so go to O’ver instead.