Destinations

Leaving for Europe from San Francisco Airport’s International Terminal is easy, smooth and comforting.  I was able to experience the best of Virgin’s Upper Class service on this nonstop journey and came away feeling that some airlines still know how to give their clients/customers the very best of treatment.   Check In was smooth and easy.  Just be aware that carry-on luggage in Upper Class is limited to 10 kilos (22 lbs) weight.   One bag and one personal carry-on like a purse, laptop case or similar is allowed.  Checked luggage for Upper Class appears quickly on the other side of the Atlantic at the end of your journey.

Onboard meals and beverage service was of very good quality; the entertainment options are so numerous that you could in theory be occupied for the whole 10 hour flight and need to take 5 more journeys to see all the offerings.  Comfy “sleep suits” in various sizes are provided to make your flat bed, duvet-covered and mattress- padded horizontal overnight completely comfortable.  Angled single seats face forward and inward on the side aisles downstairs and on the upper deck.  Downstairs on the main deck there are a number of side-by-side seats with a drop-wall for couples or friends traveling together in the center section.  Unusually, the seat flips over and is converted instantly into the flat bed.  The bed side of the seat has its own seatbelt for placing around you as you sleep.

Maybourne Hotels London:

All three of the Maybourne Hotels are known by their reputations and long history.  The Connaught - Claridges - The Berkeley.  Each hotel occupies a unique niche within this family of hotels. 

Claridges was the “adjunct” hotel to Buckingham Palace as the place VIPs, diplomats, and guests of the Queen were discretely and elegantly housed if they were not staying at the Palace itself.   She is renewed and refreshed, maintaining her long history.  The restaurants, bars and dining facilities are updated but still maintain their traditionally elegant energies.  Staff wear morning suits or dark outfits to discretely serve the top flight guests who stay here.  We were able to visit a number of suites and rooms redone by Lord Linley using his design talents with furniture using fine woods to create classic decor done to a new standard.   And as the new standard in England is “nonsmoking”, the former “Humidor” has recently been transformed into an intimate cocktail bar where a select number of guests can fill its private spaces while enjoying the very top quality liquors or liquers as they wish. 

We had a very special treat at Claridges.   Below the ground floor, in the Claridge kitchens, we were greeted by The Chef who asked his younger colleague to guide us in the art of creating appetizers.   With hilarity and good humor, the chefs guided us amateurs in creating a selection of sushi rolls, pipetted horseradish-cream smoked salmon cones as well as getting to taste fois-gras nibbles and other specialities.  A complexity of kitchen work-stations work together to produce just about everything from scratch for the discerning palates of those enjoying the fine cuisine at the hotel..

The Connaught is completing its major rennovations with the addition of new suites in a co-joined building to the original Grande Dame hotel.  Skirting the façade on the south and east sides of the hotel is the marvelous ‘conservatory restaurant’, Espelette, serving many of chef Hélène Darroze’s lighter menus.  The redone lobby “lounge” is done in subtle colors and welcomes both hotel guests and visitors from Mayfair to stop for tea in the afternoon or drinks pre-theatre or pre-dinner.  Relaxed and inviting, it is the perfect place after a day spent in London.  Soon to open its doors more widely to the neighborhood is the very trendy, happening Connaught Bar, done in cool blues and aluminum highlights and featuring new cocktails and inventive nibbles.  If a more quiet yet intimate drinking area is desired, the Coburg Bar and its dynamic staff will ensure a place for excellent conversation and laughter.  A new grand apartment is in the making.  Today you can enjoy the marvelously distinct “Prince’s Suite” where all the wood carvings and décor are hand-crafted as part of support for the wood-carving artists in Afghanistan.  This unique room is a special treat for the most discriminating guest.

The Berkeley just off Belgravia and Knightsbridge across from Hyde Park is an elegant retreat.  She is the newest of the buildings in the group but is home to Boxwood Café, entered from the street on the side of the hotel, Marcus Wareing’s amazing 2* Michelin restaurant, the bustling and very happening Blue Bar for late night drinking and discussions, and the charming Caramel Room where lunch, afternoon tea and breakfast are served with style and panache.   As London attracts people from all over the world, the staff at the Berkeley reflects this multi-national flavor, ensuring all guests will have someone who specially is attuned to their wishes.   The Spa and the rooftop pool are particularly appreciated here.  You can splash about overlooking Hyde Park and retreat into the Spa for a wide variety of treatments.   And the bathrooms are universally spacious with excellent Asprey Purple Rain amenities.   Showers with either rainheads, massage or full spray facilities, deep tubs for soaking and marble marble everywhere.   Service is attentive throughout the hotel and decor in the rooms is subtle and generally done in muted tones.  Several large suites have balconies and one of the top suites has a large ’solarium’ leading out to an expansive balcony which overlooks the Belgravia neighborhood.

All in all, the trip to London gave me an opportunity to once again re-connect with some old hotel friends and learn for the first time the pleasures of Virgin Atlantic.  You should “check out” the Upper Class lounge in London …. you almost don’t want to come home because it is such a great place to hang out!!!

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