Coronavirus changed the working landscape forever, everywhere in the western world. Do we really want to go back to our old office life once this is over? working from home
If there is one positive thing that this pandemic has done, is showing how it is possible to think about the working environment differently – at least when we talk about office jobs. If your work requires a physical presence and/or actual manual labour, you won’t have noticed the difference but, for the millions of us only needing a laptop (and a lot of coffee) to work, being able to have a change of scenery has been quite eye-opening. working from home
There are many things that made working from home a real revelation for me. The first one would be not having to commute. I am from a medium town in the south of Italy, and you don’t anywhere without a car there – so much that getting my driving licence was almost the only thing I used to think about when I was seventeen. working from home
When I moved to Paris, I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to endure an hour or so a day in the smelly metro to get to work, but I could easily avoid it as much as possible because Paris is still a very walkable city. But when I moved to London, I realise how good I had had it until then. The first and last hours of my days always included queuing up to get in the station, then queuing up to get in the Tube and again queuing up to get out of it. It was a nightmare, and I hated so much it made me hate the city.
Doing that every day made me feel like I was in a rat race, made me question what I was doing with my life multiple times and, worst of all, made me plain angry when I wasn’t at the top of my mental wellbeing.
Office work, as it was before the pandemic, it’s not made for everyone. Some of us thrive in a busy environment with lots of noise and people around. Others need silence to concentrate and get distracted easily. Then why most companies were – and, unfortunately, a lot of them still are – so against flexible working?
Leaving London was the first thing I did when the pandemic got out of hand and we were forced to work from home. I could do the same things I was doing in the office, but I could finally have my own space, more silence and better food at lunch. Offices and their policies are outdated and, at this moment in time, unnecessary.
If I always cringed a bit at the idea of working in a co-working space, more possibilities are opening up after the pandemic has shattered our economy. One of these new ideas I am totally on board with, it’s the possibility of working from a gorgeously luxurious 5-star hotel.
Rosewood London, one of the most iconic hotels in the London, is launching the Rosewood Workcation Package to make the “new normal” of working remotely better for all Londoners and people having to commute to the capital.
Instead of working from your bed or dining table, you could have one of the incredible suites at Rosewood London as your new backdrop – if only to take your zoom calls to another level. The hotel has rearranged its suites to create a comfortable working space that includes grand desks, Rosewood London’s own stationery and the usual workplace facilities that could be needed.
The hotel is also offering The Rosewood Family Concierge to allow mums and dads to work undisturbed in their office-suite. While they work, a dedicated tutor will entertain the kids with reading sessions and pie-making masterclasses. If that wasn’t enough, they are offering a butler-personal assistant that will take care of your needs from unlimited coffee runs to printing and scanning.
I don’t know about you, but this kind of office sounds much better than any other office I have worked before.
To discover more about the Rosewood Workation Package, visit their website here.
Main image: Courtesy of Rosewood London / Design: Alessia Armenise
