| Arriving at The Emory in Long-wheelbased BMW Style At noon on the Saturday one of The Emory's BMW i7, long-wheelbase electric limo fleet was waiting outside Four Seasons at Tower Bridge to 'whisk' me to the hotel. OK, Saturday protesters in London meant we were delayed near Raffles, London at The OWO. However, my driver Sudhir had worked for The Hinduja brothers and so I had fun swapping stories from my Bank of England days about that newsworthy family. A Second Stay at The Emory - Even Better Than The First Rosa (Assistant Director of Guest Services) was waiting to welcome me. I was in a Corner Suite (with a window that fully opens) before I knew it again & barely had time to acknowledge all the "welcome back Mr Frew"s from the door staff. The Surrenne Spa Rosa pointed out a Surrenne Spa towel embroidered with my initials. It was only after a swim that I spotted my personalised robe too. I avoided the children-friendly times in the pool (8 - 10am & 3 - 5pm) and had such a relaxing time using the snow shower etc The Emory Rooftop Bar; An Ice-cold 'SF Martini' & a Cedric Grolet Birthday Cake When I returned from dinner at The Peninsula I got back at 11pm. A table had been reserved for me in The Rooftop Bar. My ice-cold 'SF Martini' was perfect but the change of clocks the next day, & all the surprises at dinner, meant I was happily exhausted. A Red Rose Cedric Grolet cake was produced with a candle but I could not eat it. Charming Veronika brought it to my suite & we had such a great conversation. A perfect end to my 'Birthday Eve'. The Big Day Started with Breakfast in Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's 'abc kitchens' I slept brilliantly and my 'birthday breakfast' in Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's 'abc kitchens' was heavenly. Soft scrambled eggs with aged cheddar & broccoli was insanely good again and the waiting staff so fun to chat with. I almost cried when I was presented with a stunning Cedric Grolet Easter Egg at the end of breakfast. Reading The Genuine Weekend Financial Times It was then back to the Surrenne Spa pool to read the GENUINE Weekend Financial Times. The wording of the birthday mockup Peninsula, London created still makes me emotional. Leaving The Emory in BMW 7i Style Sudhir drove me to 45 Park Lane in the BWM 7i. I love it when the same driver is used for your whole hotel stay. My luggage was taken to Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park for later. Another Legendary Birthday Lunch at 45 Park Lane At 45 Park Lane Ruinart champagne was poured immediately and there was a 45 Park Lane leather luggage tag on my table that wildly exceeded my expectations. Not only were my initials embossed on it but there was an air tag to help me find my lost luggage. Japanese Wagyu From Heaven Chef Elliott's food is sublime. I got the 'Taste of Cut' and had to leave the Japanese wagyu to last and savor every bite. Tia's Extraordinarily Splendid Birthday Cake My Duckmaster cane from The Peabody Hotel Memphis in chocolate on top and photos of me with Chef Wolfgang Puck, Chef Byron Puck, GM Lee, Chef Elliott etc around the base. It was an unbelievable birthday cake. Tia also presented me with a Chocolate Easter Bunny with my initials on it, before the hotel guests receive them. A London Birthday Would Not Be Complete Without a Visit to Four Seasons at Park Lane Four Seasons at Park Lane has a very special place in Mr Sharp & my hearts. I will be there again tomorrow morning. Incredible Friends From My Qatar Days I met two of my best friends from Qatar days. One had flown in from Dubai the previous day and had funny & generous gifts for me. The other worked for Tony Blair in Downing Street and always has lots to tell me. 'SF Martinis' & a New Four Seasons at Park Lane Bag While all this was going on Four Seasons' chef 'fixed' my 45 Park Lane cake, so it looked just as good, after its journey down the road with the 45 Park Lane doormen, and I could try it with my friends. It tasted even better than it looked, if that was possible. I drank perfect 'SF Martinis' & Peter presented me with a new Four Seasons at Park Lane bag, with the Four Seasons logo inside. Will take it to Pavyllon tomorrow and get better photos of it. A Better Than Perfect End to My Birthday at The Aubrey at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park - #imafan I was overwhelmed, one more time, at The Aubrey at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park. Thanks to Assistant Guest Relations Manager Joseph keeping me company. It was so good exchanging hotel anecdotes with this enthusiastic guy. A The Aubrey Bottle For My Special Vermouth For The 'SF Martini' That Matches The Perfection of This Martini A 90 minute massage voucher and The Aubrey label bottle for the special vermouth for the 'SF Martini'. It is beyond perfect. Japanese Food On Another Level There were so many mouth-wateringly delicious bites. The yellowtail sashimi with spicy ponzu, lemony shiso & chilli was sensational and the uni from heaven. Services from Matteo & his team was perfectly judged for someone struggling to process such an astonishing day. Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park's Celebrated Doormen As the evening started to end I because stressed over how my luggage & gifts would get into my black cab. Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park's doormen made it all look so effortless & I felt embarrassed to have worried. It was a '10 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) birthday. Building on the Peninsula's birthday mockup of the Weekend Financial Times on my 'Birthday Eve', everything on my birthday was beyond perfect. I have never been compelled to post 10 cover photos before. From the flawless & friendly service at The Emory; to Tia's 45 Park Lane Birthday Cake; to my 45 Park Lane luggage tag; to seeing these important friends in my life on my birthday; to my new Four Seasons at Park Lane bag; to the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park massage voucher; the bottle for the special vermouth for the 'SF Martini' The Aubrey created, with the ingredients on the back; & the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park video wishing me happy birthday. Implausible perfection and so much thought & effort put into everything. |  You are never too old for balloons but, unless access to the Straits of Hormuz is fully sorted out, helium may be in short supply in future. On the table Billlecart-Salmon champagne was chilling; there was an Earl Grey & Chocolate Birthday Cake; & a leather Maybourne luggage tag.  My Frette pillow case was embroidered with my initials too & just look at that view of Hyde Park.  The Red Rose Cedric Grolet Cake I was given in The Emory Rooftop Bar & the Cedric Grolet Easter Egg I was presented at breakfast. The latter is large, stunning & heavy. It contains crispy praline, crunchy pieces of fermented, dried & roasted cacao beans, intense salt Fleur de Sel, flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate cream filling, cocoa gel & chocolate mousse. I hope to break it open with Graham & Clare's boys and share it with that awesome family.  57 & still laughing! The 'abc kitchens' team were brilliant.  Tia holds the cake & cannot thank Tim, at Dorchester Collection, enough for my spectacular 45 Park Lane luggage tag.  A photo of the 45 Park Lane birthday cake in all its glory. Next to it is a perfect ice-cold 'SF Martini'.  Balloons at every location this year. You can just see my new Four Seasons at Park Lane bag, in the shot with the cake.  The bag contains most of my bone marrow rice. I could not eat it but it was so delicious the next evening. Just look at that uni (sea urchin) piled up.  The bottle for the special vermouth for the 'SF Martini' The Aubrey created, with the ingredients on the back, at Soho House, 76 Dean Street. This was genius, so many bartenders ask me this question.  This end to the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park happy birthday video left me speechless. |
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The Emory - Maybourne Perfection, With The Connaught & Claridge's Help - London - November 202527/11/2025
Charismatic GM Thomas Carreras & Four Seasons, New York, Downtown - New York, USA - January 20247/2/2024  On this trip I not only met Thomas but had the honour of meeting Russky too. Although I decided to stay in Manhattan on this trip, I had to see GM Thomas Carreras at Four Seasons, New York, Downtown.
I was so glad I made this trip. Chatting to the front desk staff, while waiting, reminded me of the quality of this hotel. Veuve Clicquot Champagne & Wolfgang Puck Food The bar was very busy but a special table had been reserved for us and we drank Veuve Clicquot champagne and snacked on Wolfgang Puck food, while chatting. We both agreed Chef Elliott Grover at 45 Park Lane is a rising star. Simon Casson came up in conversation and the next day his new role as CEO of Corinthia Hotels was announced. Meeting Thomas would always be a '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) experience but drinking Veuve Clicquot with him, with Russky with us, was even more special.  My face says it all. Adam from Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest preparing cocktails at Four Seasons at Park Lane & eating Hungarian/ Asian fusion food in the hotel's elegant new private dining area. November 2023 was another unforgettable month in my life. My relationship with Four Seasons at Park Lane resumed and my welcome back was beyond belief. I now have green velvet Four Seasons slippers, to wear with my Mandarin Oriental, Msheireb Downtown Doha yukata (robe).
It was a month of more sensational food. The quality of the ingredients in the Claridge’s breakfast could not be better. As an LVMH Ambassador, It was also a thrill to see their Louis Vuitton trunk Christmas tree. Chef Elliott Grover, at 45 Park Lane, astonished me with Beluga caviar & UK Wagyu beef smoked with wood chips from a Jack Daniel's cask. The same day as that lunch, I had a white truffle dinner at Four Seasons at Park Lane. There were some mouthwatering pasta dishes from Chef Yannick Alleno but I now know I am not keen on white truffles in my ice cream. It was an month when Issy's tropical waistcoat from Mandarin Oriental, Miami was shipped to me & The Dorchester gave him a Dorchester Collection staff pin. I also met Sir Cliff Richard, while easting Wolfgang Puck canapes, at 45 Park Lane's Christmas tree lighting party. On the work front, I attended Grant Thornton's 'Banking & Capital Markets Conference 2023' and it was a pleasure to reconnect with Jordan International Bank Plc's new CEO. We worked together in Qatar. Hope the photos below evidence another ''7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) month. I move to Shrewsbury for Christmas on Tuesday 12 December 2023. Look forward to explaining these photos to people I meet. Still hopeful that my niece Maria, who lives in Moscow, will be in Shrewsbury for Christmas.  It was another dream come true to meet the legend that is Chef Alain Ducasse and Chef Wolfgang Puck & now knows each other. What a month. From a moving Shropshire funeral, funerals of younger people are always particularly difficult; to one of the most elegant weddings I have ever attended, you could feel the love at both events; to Chefs Alain Ducasse & Wolfgang Puck preparing a 'Four Hands Dinner' for me at 45 Park Lane.
45 Park Lane also produced a cocktail for me from The Beverly Hills Hotel, that was not on their Sunday lunch menu. As that meal, the black truffles on Chef Elliot Grover's sublime roast beef tasted better than ever. I also got to eat in Chef Yannick Alleno's Pavyllon at Four Seasons at Park Lane, before it opened to the public and was back on Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square's roof sipping a cocktail. Must also mention Chef Tom Booton's revolutionary breakfasts at The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester again. Finally I have to talk about mum & the excellent food scene in Shrewsbury. As part of the two weeks I spent in Shropshire during the month, I tried to spoil mum with meals out. My hake at La Piazzetta in The Square was sensational, our steak frites at Cote were delicious and the spicy cooked breakfast at C Sons, Shrewsbury is still morishly good. A family friend also took mum and me around his stunningly beautiful garden. Mum was almost back to her old self, talking about garden design, that afternoon. Hope you enjoy the photos below and they demonstrate what a memorable month June 2023 was in my life.  On Coronation Day The Dorchester specially created a Veuve Clicquot champagne & Grey Goose vodka cocktail for me. Also note the Dorchester Collection Coronation staff pin I was presented with. This week I will meet Chef Alain Ducasse and Chef Wolfgang Puck, Chef Elliott Grover & he will prepare my dinner together at 45 Park Lane.
Dorchester Collection, & Chef Tom Booton, played a significant role in my May 2023. Watching the Coronation flypast from The Dorchester roof, drinking Veuve Clicquot champagne in the rain, and a Coronation Day lunch in The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester, with two appetisers and three desserts! Four Seasons also played an important role with me spending Coronation Day morning at Four Seasons at Park Lane talking to a charming Saudi mother & daughter and Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square updating Issy's Beefeater outfit regarding our new King. It was also a month where I was given Concorde glasses by another Barbican resident and sat next to a Concorde menu from 1977 at the second Veuve Clicquot Sunny Side Up Cafe. This led to a kind email from my friend Edouard de Nazelle in Reims. I managed to visit Shrewsbury twice during the month. Dad losing his fight with Parkinson's, and mum's falls & diagnosis with dementia/ Alzheimer's, mean it was September 2022 when I last travelled abroad. Do not know what I would do without my friends. I look at a note from Tim in Houston each day and it helps gives me strength. Should also mention Jennifer at Naked Jam. Such a kind & talented lady and a good friend to mum & me. The good thing is mum seems far happier and less anxious. This means planning for my trip to Four Seasons Hotel Nashville can start. Hope the photos below convince you it was a very special Coronation Day; Chef Tom Booton's breakfast is the best in London; mum is safe & being very well-looked-after; & the remarkable job Bruce did with my Barbican window boxes.  I sent Easter lamb to Shrewsbury. This holiday was one of mum's favourites but I ended up spending 10 hours in A&E with mum on Good Friday, after she had another fall, getting out from a car this time.
A difficult time for our family has been exacerbated by Shropshire Council's Social Services. I am still unclear if they are incompetent or lack integrity, or a mixture of both. There are now Royal Shrewsbury Hospital discharge documents for mum that misrepresented my views. This erroneous information must have come from ICS Social Services but they are now trying to distance themselves from the mess they have helped to create. I have made numerous formal complaints to Social Services and PALS at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and a Freedom of Information Request to Shropshire Council. Organising mum's care arrangements (including physiotherapists, that RSH should have arranged); visiting Shrewsbury, while constantly correcting Social Services and undertaking my Board role at Jordan International Bank Plc, has taken me near breaking point. Hope the photos below evidence that I am still doing my best to maintaining a life for myself, while ensuring mum is well looked after.  So proud to be a Four Seasons Brand Ambassador. Readership of #luxury #travelblog is up 68% on the day of this post. What a birthday! Meeting Chef Wolfgang Puck again & him introducing me to his son; meeting my neighbour from Tucker's Town, Bermuda; balloons & champagne at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park; having Claridge's 'new' pool to myself; and a welcome at Four Seasons at Park Lane like no other.
I was given too many fantastic one-off gifts. A Mandarin Oriental leather notebook with my initials embossed on it; a Four Seasons at Park Lane leather wash bag; a cocktail shaker engraved with 45 Park Lane; and a teddy bear chocolate birthday cake & flowers from Four Seasons at Park Lane. It was kind of 45 Park Lane to cover my Spago, Beverly Hills dinner bill & love the Gym Face products that were a gift from Claridge's. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special (eg the magnum of Veuve Clicquot champagne) and hope you enjoy the photos below. |
The AuthorsSi Frew has lived in the UK, Bermuda, Qatar, Cyprus & the Cayman Islands. During this time he met Whoopi Goldberg (in Claridge's), Mike Tyson (in the Concorde Lounge at JFK) , Gordon Ramsay (in the Doha Four Seasons), Chris Eubanks (in The Dorchester), Cherie Blair (in Bermuda & again in the Doha Four Seasons) etc. There are funny stories attached to all these interactions, feel free to ask Si about them when you meet him. Archives
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