Concierge and lifestyle management companies are being tested in the current environment, with their normal purview of exclusive members’ clubs, glitzy parties and fashionable restaurants all off the table.
But if you can’t go exclusive, exclusive can go to you.
Innerplace is one company adopting this ethos – rising to the challenge to ensure its members can still make the most of what London has to offer under the current constraints.
Whether it’s virtual wine tastings, celebrity chef cooking lessons or even learning a new instrument, there are many options available.
Here are Innerplace’s top ten tips that help their members upgrade lockdown life:
Virtual wine tastings
One saving grace in lockdown has been wine still flowing, as a very essential produce. Some of the best suppliers and shops who can no longer hold face to face tastings are hosting virtual ones instead. Pre-delivered bottles ensure you’re all ready for when you Zoom in with the sommelier and other paying oenophiles. Charismatic wine chap Tom Harrow split Honest Grapes 12 bottle selection over 4 different evening sessions for just £270.
Whereas Hedonism Wines offer Classic tastings of 3-4 premium half bottles from £150 to Hedonistic tastings from £350, including an innovative reverse blind tasting.
Private celebrity chef cooking lessons
If you need help with a special dinner at home, why not turn to an expert. You can no longer share a mixing bowl but you can still be tutored by the best through your kitchen ipad.
For expert Chinese cuisine, Michelin winning Andrew Wong would be an excellent choice, or for a Nordic and Japanese twist on West African food, consider the equally starred young Jeremy Chan.
Fresh from the launch of his par excellence Muse restaurant in Belgravia the two starred Tom Aikens would be a coup, or experiment with up-and-coming Modern British chefs, Jack Croft and Will Murrary from the much lauded Fallow Restaurant residency.
Alternative investments in art, rare cars and wine
While the market has been crashing it’s been a buyers’ market in some more interesting alternative investments. Those with the resources can cash in with access to rare purchase opportunities. It may be a beautiful 1960’s Ferrari 250 GT California Spider Scagliettie with perfect Classiche or a Piccaso, Renoir or Da Vinci.
Or try West-Contemporary for contemporary and less pricy collectables.
Wine investment through companies like IG wines is also fun and potentially lucrative. You can peruse your portfolio from your smartphone and buy and sell in bond (without VAT) more like stocks and shares than plonk. Or order a delivery to drink now.
Virtual fitness and Stretching and Football
Staying in shape is a must in Lockdown and a plethora of trainers are on tap to help with anything from strength conditioning, sprinting speed, toning, boxing or Pilates.
Try an online session with BXR’s experts from £50 per hour, or do it yourself with a tailored, motivational audio workout from Auro Fit app.
Stretching is becoming an art and science in itself too, so let a Flexology Flexpert transform your body inside and out from just £5 per online session.
To burn calories and hone your footballing skills at the same time, order the innovative new Kicktrix Ballmaster, designed by Antony Hamilton (Lewis’s dad) which is great fun for kids and big kids alike.
Virtual escape rooms + Walking tours
If you’re bored of quizzes then step up to a fully functioning virtual escape room. Morse Code from Twinwoods Adventure has a real live person doing the running around and opening for you, so you can sit back and tell them what to do though a live video feed. You can join with remote friends anywhere in the world to show off your problem-solving skills and compete the mission together (Prices start from £45).
If you’re missing the London streets, take a virtual walk with friends and see the City from a new perspective. See Your City offers a variety from Magic of Film tours, or Ghosts and Ghouls to the classic Jack the Ripper.
Home delivery from the best restaurants
With exclusive restaurants off the menu the next best thing is bringing them to your door. Importantly helping the restaurant industry too, so you can feel good about splashing out on a take-away.
The top restaurants we recommend for delivery are Yauatcha for dim sum, Nobu for Japanese Peruvian and Roka for Japanese robatayaki, Arros QD for Spanish, Gymkhana for Indian, Gaucho for Steak, Sushisamba for Sushi and Hide for fine dining.
Don’t forget the top notch wine delivery too.
Recommendations there are M Restaurant’s M Wine for Malbecs and new world, Wanderlust for artisan and organic or of course Hedonism for everything else.
A final word for One Fine Dine who have pivoted from high altitude Private-Jet Cuisine to impressive fine dining on the ground, outside London too.
Learning an instrument
Lockdown is a great opportunity to focus on the interests that you’ve always wanted to pursue or haven’t had the time, and one of those might just be taking up an instrument.
Fireworks Music School offer online music lessons on all instrument (such as piano, guitar, saxophone, drums, violin, trumpet as well as singing). With teachers handpicked from the finest music conservatories in the planet, Fireworks Music School is the largest music agency in London, and we found the teachers to be of the highest quality, patient and enthusiastic. Great for beginners on up to any level. £36 an hour.
Medical concierge services
Current times are certainly focusing us all on health and wellbeing. If you would like a doctor at your beck and Zoom, without having to leave you home or put undue pressure on practitioners, medical concierge is becoming all the rage.
Phycore have put together a specially customised virtual package for the current climate, giving a full heath check-up to ensure you’re on the right road to maximize your health, at a fraction of the cost of their normal full service. It includes initial virtual consultations with their doctor, dietician and fitness instructor all for £495.
Home learning educational package
Those with kids want to keep their cherub’s attainment ahead of the curve, so may need a little professional help when it comes to home schooling.
The Golden Circle is top of the class in all things tuition, with over 200 qualified teachers, delivering world-class education to inspire kids to think differently and realise their academic potential. They have put together some custom options especially for lockdown. A four-week home schooling package of five hours of lessons per week, with progress reports and consultations at £1700 or VIP 15 hours a week full curriculum for £5100.
Hands free or Prince Hans
Some random and interesting products and services come to the fore in such unusual times.
For example, to minimise keypads and cash contact, try the Kerv payment ring for easy contactless payments worldwide. There’s no charging or pairing required, waterproof and easy to clean. So nice and hygienic for now, and should be ideal for the tube and the beach in the future.
Finally, if you are bored and looking for a new talking point during Lockdown, why not become a real life Lord or Lady, or a Baron or Baroness?
Manorial Titles can make that official with prestigious titles of nobility from just a few thousand pounds. If you’re not a member of a concierge company it might even help you get a restaurant table when we are all back out and about.
Innerplace members are receiving special access, exclusive deals, discounts and VIP packages at all of the above and much much more.
