Luxury Travel Directory

The Ivy is possibly the most celebrity-strewn eating place in London, where actors from the city’s West End theatres mix with politicians and celebrities of every hue. One is advised to book well in advance as it is always very hard to get a table here, but The Ivy is certainly worth the effort.

There is the air of an old gentleman’s club about the place with it’s oak panels, soft lighting and 1920s stained glass windows.

The food is mainly British/European, with a few influences from further afield. But classic British dishes such as Fish and Chips and Welsh Rarebit appear regularly on the menu, giving the place a delightful lack of pretentiousness. It was this atmosphere that encouraged the restaurant to be frequented by Noel Coward, Laurence Olivier and many other of Britain’s finest actors and actresses. Indeed, even the restaurant’s name has a theatrical lineage.

When the Actress, Alice Delysia, overheard Abel Glandellini apologising to customers for the inconvenience of building work in the restaurant when he was enlarging the dining room, she said, “Don’t worry, we will always come to see you, we will cling together like the ivy.”

The name stuck. And a legend was born.

The Ivy,
1 West Street,
LONDON,
WC2H 9NE
Tel: (020) 7836 4751

When Rowley Leigh opened this stylish and contemporary west London restaurant in 1987, it proved an immediate hit; not only with London’s media elite, who swarm to it every night, but also with The London Times’ food critics who rewarded it with their coveted Restaurant of the Year Award after stating, “This is the place, and about time too”.

KP has since almost doubled in size and yet continues to be as busy as ever, proving that it’s standards remain as high today as they were when Lady Diana used to list this amongst her favourite London restaurants.

The modern decor - with it’s enormous signature plate glass windows - guarantees a “see and be seen” factor, which has always been one of the restaurant’s attractions. This, coupled with the space’s madly buzzing ambience, has ensured it’s popularity into the new millennium.

However, it is for it’s food that Kensington Place is most renowned. Indeed, Leigh could be said to have started the current food renaissance as both KP’s style and Leigh’s food have gone on to be recognised as ”the most plagiarised and influential of the last decade”.

Kensington Place,
201 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LX 
Tel: (020) 7727 3184
Email: kpparty@egami.co.uk
Website: Kensington Place

The phrase, ‘weekend in the country’ could be said to have been invented at The Grove. Regular visitors such as Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Horace Walpole and Lord Palmerston would arrive on Saturday, returning to London on Monday morning. Owned by the 4th Earl of Clarendon, The Grove became a fashionable weekend retreat.

Today, The Grove is a five star hotel, set in three hundred acres of woodland and parkland, complimented by an 18 hole championship golf course and a rejuvinating spa. Tennis and croquet in the Walled Garden complete the experience. Awarded AA Hotel of the Year 2005, the 227 sumptuous and luxurious rooms and suites range from the luxurious to the truly palatial. Three restaurants along with meeting rooms create the perfect base for business or pleasure. Situated 40 minutes from central London, The Grove is ideal for short or longer stays.

The Grove Hotel
Chandler’s Cross,
Hertfordshire,
WD3 4TG
Note: some satellite navigation systems may use the postcode WD17 3TU.

Tel: +44 (0) 1923 807807
Fax: +44 (0) 1923 221008

The Grove Official Site

Set in the half-tamed border country between Herefordshire and Wales, the Penrhos Court Country Hotel is the perfect setting for your green eco-wedding. Be prepared for your wedding guests to dine on seasonal, organic food connected with passion, love and marriage. All for that extra special touch. Each menu is individually created between the couple and the award winning chef/nutritionist Daphne Lambert, with different slection of foods depending on the season. Penrhos holds a civil ceremony licence and ideally suits wedding parties of between 30 and 70 people. Also available at the Penrhos Court Country Hotel are food, health and cookery courses to set you on the right path to confidently preparing and cooking your own wholefood organic dishes as part of your new lifestyle. Why not treat yourself to a short break at The Penrhos Hotel with yoga, massage, reflexology and nutritional consultation.

Penrhos Court
Kington
Herefordshire
HR5 3LH

Tel: 01544 230720
Fax: 01544 230754

Penrhos Official Site