There’s a new way of looking at luxury living in London. One that blends convenience, community and clever design to deliver a riverside penthouse lifestyle at a fraction of the usual cost.
Imagine waking up to Thames-side views, having a full-size gym and five-star Airbnb-style facilities such as a cinema room at your disposal, and ending the day with panoramic rooftop sunsets. Welcome to co-living: city-centre accommodation reimagined for the way many of us now work, travel and unwind. At Florence Dock, perched on the banks of Battersea and just a 15-minute walk from Clapham Junction, the concept truly comes into its own.
While the building is predominantly for renters, there are also a number of studios and apartments available for shorter stays. It’s ideal for anyone needing time in London without the eye-watering cost of a five-star central hotel.
What you might forgo in a traditional hotel “experience”, you gain tenfold in practicality, making it feel, well, just easy. For someone like me, who runs their own business and travels regularly, it was a revelation. I find it far easier to relax into leisure time once I’ve ticked off a few hours of work in the morning, and Folk at Florence Dock offers the space and facilities to do exactly that.
Step inside your private studio and, at first glance, you might feel slightly underwhelmed. It’s compact and bijou, with a small kitchen, bathroom, storage and everything you need neatly integrated. But what you lose in personal square footage, you more than gain in lifestyle. The real magic lies in the shared spaces which are thoughtful and ergonomically designed to bring people together, while still allowing for quiet time.
Would I curl up to watch TV in a shared lounge? Probably not. But I loved having access to the co-working space, being able to nip downstairs to do my laundry, and generally letting the building work around me. As I settled into the rhythm of the place, I could easily imagine it suiting a digital nomad, a couple travelling for work, or anyone wanting to blend business and leisure seamlessly.
No tiny hotel gym. No working off your phone at the end of the bed. No eating out for every meal. You can prepare food in your room, make use of the larger communal kitchens, or simply order Deliveroo. It’s a flexible, modern setup that adapts to how you actually live.
As a visitor, you might not be inviting friends over every night, but private dining rooms are available if you’re staying with family and don’t want to eat out constantly. Make use of the expansive, fully equipped communal kitchens, then book the fabulous cinema room for a three-hour private screening. Meanwhile, the gamers in your group can settle into the PlayStation room for a quick game of FIFA. You can even knock out a tune on the baby grand piano or borrow a book from the communal library.
Work calls are equally well catered for, with dedicated co-working spaces, double-monitor setups and noise-cancelling call booths that make switching between productivity and downtime effortless. It’s the kind of flexibility traditional hotels struggle to match, and yet prices start from around £150 per night.
Florence Dock is perfect for those who love a mooch along the river, enjoy the café culture of Fulham, or fancy a browse around Battersea Power Station. And with the savings you make on accommodation, you can happily redirect those pennies towards a more indulgent dinner plan.
We decided on Chelsea Harbour for a celebratory dinner during our stay. A lesser-known pocket of the city where luxury yachts bob quietly through the colder months. It’s a twinkly, atmospheric and undeniably glamorous backdrop for dinner.
The experience begins as soon as you arrive at The Anchor restaurant, part of the Chelsea Harbour Hotel, where we were welcomed in the only appropriate manner for the season, by a Champagne trolley. In a celebratory mood, we began with a bountiful seafood tower: oysters, razor clams, mussels, scallops and the most delicate lobster, plump and perfectly cooked.
Mains of Duck and Wagyu Beef followed, both beautifully executed. Think crisp linen tablecloths, attentive service, sipping bubbles and gazing out at the boats. It’s a unique setting for London and felt perfectly fitting for a stay by the Thames.
A short cab ride later, Florence Dock greeted me with the kind of warmth and comfort usually reserved for boutique hotels. My name was already known, and it genuinely felt like coming home after a night out. Yet this was something different: affordable luxury, redefined for modern living.
A staycation that doesn’t just offer a place to sleep, but a new way to experience London, connected, flexible, quietly indulgent, and refreshingly unfussy. Luxury, without the eye-watering price tag.
Review and Images by Emmie Blower @emmiebthere
