| 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 in Astana & Dubai but my preference is currently to be based in London, so I can continue to live in my Barbican place and better support my parents. |  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. |
LVMH, Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester Collection & Four Seasons - London, UK - June/July 20194/7/2019
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 The mother of my awesome godson. We have been friends since our Bank of England days & she took me to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. My Barbican window boxes are now looking, & smelling, fabulously thanks to the geniuses at Nurture Landscapes. The smell comes from rosemary & French lavender and the bees already love the latter. My original window boxes were based on work done at Four Seasons at Park Lane but this year's are inspired by Rules, the oldest restaurant in London.
The day before the work on my window boxes I visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Before this I walked through Mayfair to see Annabel's & smell the flowers at The Connaught and had lunch with astonishing friends from Shropshire at Four Seasons at Park Lane. Hope the photos below help to evidence the '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) life I am living here in London.  Yes, that is a magnum of 'free' Veuve Clicquot & the Easter Bunny did know my name! Thanks, in the main, to Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane for an unbelievable Easter 2019 in London.
From the Four Seasons doormen wishing me happy birthday, to the 'free' magnum of Veuve Clicquot, to the Easter Bunny knowning my name and the Easter Egg desserts being to die for, an Easter Sunday that could not have been better. However, I must also mention a drink with John at 45 Park Lane/the 45 Park Lane candle he gave me with a sumptuously luxuriant smell and my chats with Andre & Alex at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square on Easter Monday. Hope the photos below help you to understand why it was such a special weekend. A '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) 50th birthday continued a little longer with a sublime Easter weekend.  My 29 March 2019 50th birthday, & the related Brexit date, are fast approaching. I had to make my first hotel stay of 2019 The Dorchester and my stay there could not have been better.
I was given an elegant Mayfair suite, with a spare shower room; balloons in the shape of 50; my first birthday cake & champagne. I visited Four Seasons at Park Lane and 45 Park Lane during me stay. At the former I finished writing the invited to my 50th birthday parties and then staff brought me dinner (tempura shrimp from heaven) without me even asking, just as at the Four Seasons George V in Paris, they can 'read my mind' and at the latter their genial GM John came for a cheerful chat. I should also mention a fantastic chat with Janice at The Dorchester, I had perfect chats with so many of their unbelievable staff. I should finally mention the guitar player in The Bar at The Dorchester. Love the live music on Wednesdays in that bar. A '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) start to my 50th birthday YEAR. My Tip:- make the most of Mayfair, London, the luxury hotels there, & their staff, blow my mind.  Despite a pre-Christmas trip to see my remarkable friend in Punta del Este, Uruguay; the new Sao Paulo Four Seasons; the Belmond hotel at Iguazu Falls ('Cataratas'); Paraquay; and the Buenos Aires Four Seasons again, I had to see the Christmas decorations by the hotels & businesses in Mayfair, London.
Four Seasons at Park Lane helped with this by looking after my luggage for a few hours and I was impressed by the monumental, & stylish, nutcracker toy soldiers in their lobby, my photo does not do justice to the crystal covered one. Christopher Kane's work at Scott's restaurant on Mount Street, the Diane von Furstenberg Christmas tree at Claridge's and The Connaught's Christmas tree by conceptual artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin at night all deserve special mentions. Along with Head of Guest Relations Emily at The Dorchester for her entertaining chat with me. Hope you enjoy the photos below. A true '7 teddies' effort by the hotels and businesses in Mayfair, London.  My Park Suite. Note the red lacquer cabinet & wait to hear more about that when I post about my Dame Barbara Cartland suite at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok. Before I left for the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok & the Far East I decided to spend one more night at The Dorchester. I had intend this to be a 'low-key event'. However, nothing The Dorchester does is unexceptional and on this trip they gave me an updated version of the Park Suite I spent my 40th birthday in. I almost cried when I saw its beauty & recalled that 'historic' dinner in The Dorchester's Penthouse & Pavilion.
This, along with a private viewing of 'Mono Scripto', the Bob Dylan exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery on Bond Street and dinner with some exceptional friends at Dishoom made it a '7 teddies' 24 hours I will never forget.  Finding a Rolls-Royce on my return from Cayman Islands turned what could have been a fraught experience into a pleasure. Flying American Airlines First Class, & staying at The Dorchester, meant I had to return from Cayman Islands to find a Rolls-Royce.
The Dorchester helped me celebrate by giving me one of their gorgeous Dorchester suites again, hotel legend Amanda Hyndman met with me, I (finally) met Four Seasons' Lynn Brutman, Dorchester butlers repacked my luggage beautifully and some of my best friends from my 10 years in Qatar joined me for drinks. 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻(7 out of 5 ‘teddies’) - no return to the UK could have been better. I must thank Robert, Janice & Emily at The Dorchester, John at 45 Park Lane, Lynn & Irene at Four Seasons at Park Lane & Amanda Hyndman at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park for all they did to make my welcome back to the UK so special.  The sitting room of my Westminster Suite with the Veuve Clicquot chilling and afternoon tea in the background. I was nervous about staying at Four Seasons at Park Lane so soon after legendary GM John had left. However, Manager Mali ensured it was another memorable stay in opulent surroundings with exemplary Four Seasons staff.
It was just a pity I did not get to meet new GM Lynn, as she was not yet in place. However, I did leave a #travelblog www.sifrew.com. baseball cap for her. Four Seasons at Park Lane remains one of the best Four Seasons in the group and a hotel Mr Sharp can still be justly proud of.  A Veuve Clicquot fridge was put in my suite with a magnum of Veuve Clicquot and so much fruit there were complaints from some of my Twitter Followers! I have an incredible history with Four Seasons at Park Lane. I first stayed there as part of a Paris, New York and London Four Seasons 'themed' trip from Qatar. It had not been refurbished at that stage and I wrote to Mr Sharp (Founder & Chairman) saying it should not be part of Four Seasons. He wrote back 'agreeing' and it shut down shortly after!
I then stayed there again after the refurbishment, when they left Sichuan pepper and Parmesan popcorn in my suite, relating to an 'incident' three years before. The service & attention to detail in this uber luxurious Four Seasons is legendary and I knew I must stay there on this Christmas trip to wish Four Seasons star GM John congratulations on his 35 years with Four Seasons. I was so glad I did. My suite, with a working fireplace, took my breath away and everything about the stay was beyond perfection. An incredible way to end Christmas before flying back to Cayman Islands for a night before Four Seasons New York Downtown again for New Year.  Breakfast with my godson in the Threadneedles Hotel was the highlight of a very special London weekend. His first taste of Marco Pierre White food. I decided to make my first weekend in London, after moving to Hilton, Cyprus, perfect and achieved this goal thanks to 45 Park Lane, The Dorchester, The Ivy Chelsea Gardens, Four Seasons Park Lane and Threadneedles Hotel and, most important, seeing my godson again.
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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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