| Another Iconic Birthday March 2026 is here. My birthday month. My actual birthday is on Sunday 29 March and I will wake at The Emory, in Belgravia, on that day. Impressive Park Hyatt, London Thames River My birthday month could not have started any better. I was invited to the 203 room & suite Park Hyatt, London Thames River and it far exceeded my expectations. I love Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, and Park Hyatt Bangkok, and Park Hyatt, London Thames River is also refined quality. Nine Elms & The New US Embassy The hotel is in Nine Elms, close to Battersea Power Station, and an easy journey from The Barbican. A Perfect Park Hyatt Welcome Japanese Chief Mixologist Mitsuhrio, in Nine Elms Bar, was familiar with www.sifrew.com and recognised me immediately. Despite me being slightly early, GM Mario appeared within minutes. Personal Tour By Energised GM Mario GM Mario had only recently taken up his role and was fascinating to tour the hotel with. He convinced me I must try their 'Yú Gé' Cantonese restaurant, after my birthday, and showed me my first Somadome (meditation pod) in their beautiful spa. Rooms & Suites with Breathtaking Views The views from, & size of, 'basic' rooms makes this term inaccurate and the suites were stunning, with so many special features. The hotel makes up the first 18 floors of a 42 floor tower and the views of the river and city from the rooms, & suites, are remarkable. Mario explained the residences to me too. A Memorable Lunch in The Nine Elms Kitchen Chef Stefanos Kokkalis came to speak to us at the start of lunch. Steak, tiger prawns from the grill etc meant the food was delicious but it was chatting to Mario about my time in Cape Town, and the hospitality industry more generally, that made my day. A Perfect Martini & Unworldly Japan Back in The Nine Elms Bar Mitsuhiro made me a perfect martini with Japanese precision. Talking to him allowed me an opportunity to reminisce about my time in Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka. My First Birthday Gifts, Including a Chocolate Tart by Chef Jason Ho When I got back to The Barbican, and opened my first birthday gifts, I almost cried over the number of them, the level of personalisation and The Tides product from the spa. The Chocolate Tart, included Madagascar vanilla & salted caramel and was too indulgent. Despite only opening in October 2024, Park Hyatt, London River Thames is already a '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) hotel. Nine Elms is developing quickly and its immediate vicinity will improve. Mario and I joked about when I first worked in Canary Wharf in the late 1990s. |  GM Mario Flanagan with me by the Chinese New Year decorations in front of Nine Elms Bar.  The Charlie Whinney installation ‘Ebb and Flow’, inspired by the River Thames, in the lobby.  Spot The London Eye & The Shard in this view from a Park Suite.  Chief Mixologist Mitsuhiro Nakamura making me a perfect martini.  As a friend commented, when he saw all this, is it your birthday or an early Christmas? |
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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.  With so many complex gifts, Maria needed her full concentration during our Christmas Day lunch. November & December 2021 were a whirlwind. The fact I signed the contract for my new banking job at The Rosewood Hotel, London, and started my new role in Canary Wharf in December, means 2022 should start well for me.
November 2021 included a meeting at The Guildhall to represent Barbican residents; a visit to The English National Opera to see HMS Pinafore; a Chinese breakfast at Four Seasons Hotel Ten Trinity Square before The Lord Mayor's Show etc December included seeing The Dior Christmas Tree at Claridge's; being given the 2021 Harrods Christmas teddy bear by the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park; trying the new scones at Four Seasons on Park Lane before their public launch; Christmas shopping for Maria at Hamleys etc Christmas itself was our first without dad at home. However, mum & I were able to visit him on Christmas Eve & again before I returned to work in London. His granddaughter Maria flew in from Moscow again and we had a very special family Christmas with her. Hope the photos below convince you it has been a '7 teddy' few months, despite COVID-19. I am double vaccinated and have had my booster shot & flu jab. Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog. I really value all your support.  I cannot say enough good things about Guy's Hospital & the NHS. 29 March 2021 will be my second birthday 'celebrated' under COVID-19.
I have already had some amazing birthday presents. The main one was having received my first Coronavirus vaccine shot. This, combined with news that Nuffield Health plan to reopen The Barbican gym, gives me hope that we are, finally, returning to 'normal'. I am thinking about Paris & their latest lockdown at present. Stay safe & strong everyone.  I decided to name the bellboy teddy bear Claridge's sent with my Daniel Humm take-out dinner Thomas, after their GM I met. Despite experiencing Fortnum & Mason & Avanti West Coast First Class train travel alone; a Daniel Humm Claridge's Fried Chicken dinner at home; showers with Aromatherapy Associates oils, my Frette sheets & my Dorchester hotel bed here in my Barbican London place; seeing a Red Arrows display on VE Day by Palace of Westminster; another spectacular Dorchester hotel roses bouquet specially created for me by Philip Hammond; walks in St James's Park looking at the black swans & Buckingham Palace etc, the UK lockdown since 23 March 2020 has been too long and the UK's new travel quarantine rules wreck www.sifrew.com and so many of my work plans.
My dad's birthday next weekend, & a 'physically distanced' picnic in Green Park with friends from my Qatar days, has made me think how much a miss hugging my mum, swimming & my personal training. Look forward to answering questions about the photos below, when we next meet! Off for another walk now to try to drop some of the weight gained in the last few months.
 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.  Remarkable GM Amanda, my stunning breakfast view of Hyde Park and the Plaza Hotel, New York Merrythought teddy bear that got me think about my London - New York Concorde flight. I have settled back into my London life. Personal training with Bart at Virgin Active, Barbican and enjoying my swims there.
I am living in my redecorated Barbican place again, with its Dorchester Hotel bed, personalised Frette sheets from Harrods, new Ligne Roset table from Heal's etc. Just the 'Four Seasons at Park Lane' window boxes to recreate again. Since I moved back to London Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has officially reopened. I visited on the day this occurred. On that, notable, occasion I met Rodolphe & Marco in the Mandarin Bar and was served a divine truffle gin martini that was not yet on the menu. Legendary GM Amanda also came for an inspiring chat. On my second visit I brought one of my unbelievable friends from Shropshire and got to try more cocktails and snacks being developed for the menu and was presented with a Mandarin Oriental teddy bear, MO tie pin and MO key ring, to add to my MO clufflinks from Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. On my latest visit I decided to try their Hyde Park breakfast with Moet champagne, a choice of truffles or caviar and a spectacular view of Hyde Park. Breakfast ended up being better than I could possibly have imagined. Even the bellhops on the lobby stairs greeted me by name, the gorgeous dining room is so bright and impressive, the other guests as refined as I found before the deeply unfortunate fire and Amanda and her staff (eg Silvia the House Manager) seem reinvigorated/improved, what a contrast with when The Savoy in London reopened. Hope the photos below help you to understand why it was such a special day. A '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) hotel, with '7 teddy' staff and a '7 teddy' champagne/truffle breakfast. |
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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