22 April 2013

Mobile Office Reviews: 39 Steps

| Barcham
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There was not a single step in the store.

In Mobile Office Reviews Johnboy and I search for the perfect place to spend a day working.

This morning we went to 39 Steps Cafe, a fancy looking little place at the O’Conner shops. The weather was cold, but 39 Steps was warm and welcoming.

Johnboy got a coffee, I ordered bacon and eggs. Full of enthusiasm for the place, we opened our laptops and tried to start out RiotACT day.

Sadly things didn’t turn out quite the way we hoped.

Technology:

No available electricity, poor mobile coverage, and terrible WiFi.

Sadly this is really where the ‘mobile office’ part of the review really starts and ends.

No available power is manageable. It’s not ideal, but it is fairly common. We can cope with that

It was the combo of poor mobile coverage and barely usable WiFi however that made the place completely unworkable for us. We obviously need to be able to get online to work on our website and it just wasn’t possible.

If your work doesn’t require much online work beyond the occasional email then their in-house WiFi may do you ok, but we found that even gmail had troubles loading (it switched back to that awful html version).

At the time we could see nobody else there with a laptop, so unless the manager was outback torrenting Game of Thrones or something, I can’t understand things were so slow.

After struggling for about 30 minutes we gave up on mobile officing it today and went home.

Food:

Breakfast was nice, obviously we didn’t try lunch.

My plate of bacon and eggs was not cheap, but it was huge and delicious.

Productivity:

Zero. It seems like it would have been fine, but we never really got to test.

Coffee:

When I shake the Magic Johnboy™ it says:

Pleasant, but not remarkable.

Comfort:

Quite nice. The place is charming and the booth we found ourselves in was comfy. The tables had plenty of room for Johnboy and I to spread our all our laptops, phones, bacon, tethering cables, sunglasses, and eggs without feeling feel crowded or cluttered.

Service:

Lovely. Staff were friendly and attentive.

Other People:

We were there too early to really tell what the clientele were like. I can’t image the place getting too distracting a crowd, but I don’t know.

Conclusion:

Really nice cafe, terrible mobile office.

Our quest continues!


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I’ve been to Loading Zone twice-once for take away & once for dining in. The take away was delicious & reasonably priced. Eating in- the service was very slow & there didn’t seem to be much structure so waiting staff just wandered around & didn’t appear to be allocated specific tables. Again, the food was good; it just took too long!!!!

Is it the shopwhere Marinetti Restaurant used to be?

From the first photo: I very much hate all their chairs.

Mess said :

I walk past Loading Zone every morning, and it’s always full of people pretending they aren’t cold.

LOL yes ! I met friends there last Friday when the wind was insanely cold. I was shivering the whole time but my Chai stayed warm for a good half an hour (I’m an extremely slow drinker)

Never heard of this place before the. However brilliant service and nice food !

I don’t see it being a good mobile office… No power would be the first hurdle.

I went to the 39 Steps the other week. Didn’t test office capacity, but I agree the venue itself is very nice… something about it is quite comforting.

Madam Cholet5:39 pm 22 Apr 13

Is one of your criteria that it must just be ready to receive you? Or would you not be averse to making a booking?

I walk past Loading Zone every morning, and it’s always full of people pretending they aren’t cold.

I used to work in a place in that building (O’Connor shops – take note of the spelling Barcham), and the mobile reception was terrible. I don’t know why, but everyone consistently loses reception about 3 or 4m from the front door. Bad for customers, but great for keep staff off their phones (maybe that’s why the customer service was so good!)

We really do need to try Lonsdale St Traders. I’ve only been inside once for a gig, but it was quite nice.

Madam Cholet3:58 pm 22 Apr 13

Can you try that one in the lane way off London Circuit. I think it’s called Loading Zone. I won’t go there until I get the all clear.

Last time we tried to go to Loading Zone they were full.

We’ll try and get back there for lunch but that bodes ill as a mobile office.

Next please: Lonsdale St Traders..

I snooped around there on a Sunday and am curious to know how they fare on a weekday..

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