travelog

The Coronation of HM King Charles III - London/ Shrewsbury - May 2023

5/6/2023

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.

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How Quickly Things Can Change - Shrewsbury/ London - April 2023

8/5/2023

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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.

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The Legend That is The Dorchester is Back! - London - January 2023

1/2/2023

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I returned to London, after New Year, to find my Dorchester hotel hamper. It was a month dominated by the reopening of the ground floor of this iconic hotel.

The Pierre Yves-Rochon refurbishment of the Dorchester lobby & Promenade has to be seen to be believed. From Lalique glass columns under the Promenade's Artists' Bar; to Liberace's piano being played; to stunning original art from various exhibitions I have attended at 45 Park Lane. I found seeing it all the first time almost overwhelming.

It was a month where I met Chef Elliott Grover at 45 Park Lane & Dorchester Collection artist Jill Berelowitz. I also attended a Shrewsbury School (Old Salopian) Epiphany Service at St Mary-le-Bow in the City of London; met with the City of London Police again, as part of my Barbican role; had lunch with colleagues I worked with at the Bank of England in the 1980s; ate Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama from Harrods and savoured a delicious bacon chop at the Mount St Restaurant surrounded by Matisse, Lucian Freud, Picasso, Warhol etc, before a tour of their exceptional private dining rooms.

Chef Tom Booton at The Dorchester Grill's stuffed chicken; Chef Elliott Grover's Sunday lunch at 45 Park Lane; the Wolfgang Puck crispy fried beef & prawn wontons with honey spiced mayonnaise at 45 Park Lane; & the cream tea from Rick Stein at Home must all be tried.

Hope the photos below do justice to an unforgettable start to 2023. I am off to Shrewsbury again tomorrow, to help mum again.

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The Bank of England; The Buckingham Palace Gardens; A Test Match etc - London/ Shrewsbury - May to August 2021

26/7/2021

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Another dream came true being in the Buckingham Palace gardens with mum.

Dad's rapid decline from Parkinson's disease is something my whole family is struggling to cope with. It has forced me to give up my new role at the Bank of England after only 4 month, to enable me to deal with this myself and support my family more. The Bank have been so kind and said I should be able to rejoin them for a third time, once my family life stabilises again.

I first started working for the Bank of England when the Rt Hon Robin Leigh-Pemberton was Governor; worked with the present Governor, Andrew Bailey, when we were both in Chief Cashier's Office; and Andy Haldane, former Chief Economist, was my manager in Monetary Analysis, during the period of 'the Ken & Eddie Show', before The Bank was given independence over the setting of interest rates.

All this history with The Bank, combined with my experience working in Bermuda, Qatar, Cyprus & Cayman Islands should have made me ideal to help The Bank with its work and it was painful to have to resign. However, it did free me up to take mum to see the gardens at Buckingham Palace. The Farmers' Club made the sublime rare roast beef sandwiches, and Rosewood, London the Yayoi Kusama cakes, for this picnic.

I have also been to a Beverly Hills Hotel pop-up on the roof of The Dorchester, where I was presented with more Philip Hammond flowers. Dorchester Collection know when I need cheering up. In a similar vein, I was given 'free' Ruinart champagne at Four Seasons at Park Lane and friends from my Bermuda days sent me Concorde tags from our New York trip on that supersonic jet. I also got to try the new NoMad hotel in Covent Garden. I need to make it clear that I cannot recommend Oystermen in Covent Garden enough, after an unforgettable dinner there with mum.

Last week I was taken to a Test Match at Trent Bridge by friends from my Shrewsbury School days. I am so lucky with the friends I have.

I am going through an extreme difficult period in my life at present but hope the photos below illustrated there are still some very happy moments within it and my friends are being too kind.

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Living in the New COVID-19 World - London/ Shrewsbury - September 2020

6/10/2020

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I was elated to find the High Court case I have been working on reported in the Financial Times.

September 2020 was a monumental month in my life with my new Banking Consultancy company 'Si Frew Consultancy Services Limited' being incorporated & the Lebanese banking case I have been working on reported in the Financial Times.

At the same time it has been a whirlwind on the travel blog side, with more iconic London hotels reopening, while the Mayfair hotels continue to surprise & impress me.

Four Seasons at Park Lane allowed me to try vodka infused with caviar, not yet on their menu; Michael (Managing Director of Rosewood, London) sent us champagne to celebrate the reopening of his elegant hotel; had a drink with Robert (General Manager of The Dorchester) to honour the busy reopening of his historic hotel; I discovered Porsche must be the 'official' car of my Barbican building; I savoured another sensational Tom Booton Sunday lunch at The Grill at The Dorchester; and also got to enjoy a drink with Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park's fabled General Manager Amanda, in their reopened Mandarin Bar.

It was also a month where I had the best dover sole of my life at Parsons in Seven Dials; had a memorable Wolfgang Puck brunch at 45 Park Lane, having the pleasure to be joined by their General Manager John & viewed 'FAME at 45 Park Lane' with photos of Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot, Faye Dunaway etc I will never forget; 45 Park Lane staff sent me more of their Noble Isle shower products that I adore; & I continued to be impressed by breakfast & service at Millie's Lounge at The Ned. I also visited the enchanting garden at The Goring for martinis with a friend from my Prestfelde prep school days. There I met their charming new General Manager Michael and had forgotten how beautiful their new bar is. I was also blown away by the steaks at Hawksmoor, Seven Dials in September.

I ended the month eating Eggs Escoffier (with lobster meat, caviar & gold) & drinking champagne at breakfast at Gordon Ramsay's reopened Savoy Grill at The Savoy, London and being entranced by the 'full French' breakfast & staff at Anthony Demetre's Wild Honey at Sofitel London St James. On top of all this, I managed more trips to Shropshire to support my indomitable parents.

In September my personal training also moved to Energie Fitness, so I can remain with legendary Bart but I still try to swim at Virgin Active each day too. I must also mention my new The White Company electric diffuser I was thoughtfully given by one of my best friends that is now an important part of my night time ritual, along with my Frette sheets, Dorchester hotel bed & Aromatherapy Associates shower oils.

Finally I should mention that an incident that I experienced at one of my favourite Mayfair hotels last month, & some that have happened to my caring mother (even at church), have me thinking about Four Seasons' Mr Sharp's mission statement based on The Golden Rule "To treat others as we'd wish to be treated ourselves." again. I fully appreciate that issues related to COVID-19 have left us all very frazzled but I think it is even more important to take the time to talk to people and be compassionate, understanding & flexible.

Hope the photos below help to make people feel better at what continues to be such a difficult time for so many people.

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Chic Paris at Christmas. The Four Seasons George V with Legendary Jackie; Veuve Clicquot at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris with Charismatic GM Philippe & Delightful Emilie; & Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris with Charming Louise - Paris, France - December 2019

22/12/2019

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www.sifrew.com with awesome Jackie in the Jeff Leatham Christmas igloo at The Four Seasons George V; Veuve Clicquot champagne at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris; the elegant bar at Hotel Plaza Athenee; and charming Mandarin Oriental, Paris GM Philippe.

The French strikes did not prevent www.sifrew.com having a spectacular time experiencing Paris at Christmas.

At the Four Seasons George V Jeff Leatham's Christmas decorations were even more dazzling/ opulent than I expected. I was sad to hear Jackie will be retiring next year but this will present another good excuse to visit Paris.

At the Mandarin Oriental, Paris I drank Veuve Clicquot champagne with charismatic GM Philippe and then delightful Emilie showed me the spectacular four bedroom The Parisian Apartment. It was interesting to see a piece of Zhuang Hong Yi art in the lobby of this hotel. His work is currently featured at 45 Park Lane.

At the Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris Dorchester Collection's charming Louise treated me like a VVVIP. It was interesting that my very dry Grey Goose martini there was better than at the Four Seasons George V. I also drank Perrier Fine Bulles for the first time and was fascinated to see a Lego model of the hotel in their exquisite lobby, Lego is the Christmas theme for The Savoy in London.

Hope the photos below give you a taste of how stylish Christmas in Paris is & why it was a '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) experience.

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LVMH, Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester Collection & Four Seasons - London, UK - June/July 2019

4/7/2019

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Over the last few months, other than a weekend in Berlin to celebrate the 50th birthday of some awesome friends of mine, & two weekends in Shropshire, to help dad with his new laptop & attend his birthday party, I have been helping the London based sister of Lord Foley (who I met in Bangkok) with a London focused luxury project.

During the course of this I have been stunned by the help and support I have received from friends at LVMH, Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester Collection & Four Seasons.

At the same time I have been working on my future as a Banking Consultant & I have been approached about roles.

This email, from a friend at LVMH, who I met while working in Cayman Islands, made my day.

I first met Mandarin Oriental GM Amanda in Bangkok & always adore our meetings.

I first met 45 Park Lane GM John when I was working in Qatar. On this occasion he asked me to try their new proposed shower gel.

Four Seasons @ Park Lane GM Lynn is always a perfect source of useful practical advice.

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Stay in a Sumptuous Dorchester Suite at The Dorchester & Meet Their New GM - London, UK - April 2018

29/4/2018

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Issy & Gwyn from The Goring in the sitting room of my lavish Dorchester suite. There were balloons, as well as Veuve Clicquot, to celebrate this Brand Ambassador's return.

Problems with emails from my iPhone X to Dorchester Collection email addresses in London & Paris meant I had not stayed with them since my big Far East trip.

I was so glad I did stay at The Dorchester on my last London stay. Emily (Director of Guest Relations) welcomed me back with such warmth; my Dorchester suite brought me near tears with its luxurious, but comfortable, beauty; and I was able to discuss my connections with the Qatari Royal Family with their ex-Four Seasons GM Robert.

The warmth of my welcome back; prints by HRH Prince Charles, the Japanese remote controlled toilet in the suite etc; and meeting new GM Robert, and talking to his brilliant PA Janice again, made this a 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻(7 out of 5 ‘teddies’) stay at this iconic London hotel.

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Stay at 45 Park Lane (part of the Dorchester Collection) in a Studio Suite - London, UK - June 2016

5/6/2016

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English Chase vodka, Wolfgang Puck steak popcorn, my Four Seasons Park Lane pepper & Parmesan popcorn, gummy bears, vanilla macaroons with paw prints & a teddy bear with Issy's name on his sleeve.

45 Park Lane is The Dorchester hotel's 45 room/suite, more expensive, chic contemporary sister hotel housed in a exceptional Art Deco building with a striking façade, with eco-friendly cooling fins, minutes walk from its stately 'older sister'. All rooms & suites in 45 Park Lane have large windows with views of Hyde Park.

45 Park Lane is famous for being the site of Hugh Hefner's first Playboy Club in Europe, which had the world's most profitable casino in the 1980s.

With all my stays at The Dorchester, and knowing John (the General Manager of 45 Park Lane) from his time at The Dorchester, I had to stay at this hotel and John made this possible.

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the luxury travel blog

The Coronation of HM King Charles III - London/ Shrewsbury - May 2023

How Quickly Things Can Change - Shrewsbury/ London - April 2023

The Legend That is The Dorchester is Back! - London - January 2023

The Bank of England; The Buckingham Palace Gardens; A Test Match etc - London/ Shrewsbury - May to August 2021

Living in the New COVID-19 World - London/ Shrewsbury - September 2020

Chic Paris at Christmas. The Four Seasons George V with Legendary Jackie; Veuve Clicquot at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris with Charismatic GM Philippe & Delightful Emilie; & Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris with Charming Louise - Paris, France - December 2019

LVMH, Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester Collection & Four Seasons - London, UK - June/July 2019

Stay in a Sumptuous Dorchester Suite at The Dorchester & Meet Their New GM - London, UK - April 2018

Stay at 45 Park Lane (part of the Dorchester Collection) in a Studio Suite - London, UK - June 2016

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