It’s ‘Night at the Museum‘… except it’s at John Lewis.
Spending the night somewhere sneakily is a bit of a trend. IKEA have had to put out a grumpy message urging the public to stop hiding under their beds, while in Scotland two schoolboys were found having a Sainsbury’s sleepover and getting messed up on chocolate and booze. Now you can join in the fun, but without the ignominy of being awkwardly banned from a leading high street chain!
John Lewis have created a reasonable facsimile of a fancy apartment in their huge Oxford Street department store, all the better to show off their homeware. They’re calling it ‘The Residence’, and they’ve also had the bright idea of letting people stay in it.
A sleepover is free (but presumably rather limited) and comes with an hour of personal shopping (or behind-the-scenes tour of the store, although how exciting can a stockroom really be?), midnight snacks and all the rest.
If you prefer to sleep in your own bed, they’re also offering weekly opportunities to host a dinner party for ten, the best bit of which is that a personal chef will do all the cooking for you. Afterwards you’re welcome to veg out and watch a movie together on a massive plasma screen.
All in all this is your likely your only chance to get drink, screw and pass out in a major London department store without ending up on the cover of the Metro. To apply, you have to visit the store in person either this weekend (Sep 16-17) or next (Sep 23-24) and talk to someone at the ‘Concierge Desk.’ No word on precisely when the sleepovers and dinners are happening or how many places there are, but it’s worth a punt – full details on their website.