Welcome to the Carlyle

 

This is my first visit to The Carlyle, but it feels like home. This Rosewood property is deliciously cosy with wooden floors, great carpets and old style refinement – but very fresh in feel.

In Upper East 76th Street on Madison overlooking Central Park, the area is residential, which adds to that homely feeling. Still it is very convenient for shopping, and Madison Avenue is known as Museum Mile with treasures like the Whitney Museum of American Art, Frick Collection, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Plus there are loads of small cosy restaurants in the neighbourhood. 

The hotel made its debut in 1930 so it is part of history and people who make history stay here. I took a little tour of the places to meet and dine in the hotel, or listen to artists perform:

Lobby, doors leading to...

...the popular Carlyle restaurant

…for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Breakfast buffet

Cosy corner perfect for the honoured tradition of afternoon tea

And the bar:

Great ambience and...

...painting of the four seasons from 1947
by the famous artist Bamelmans

The Carlyle is also a venue for nightly performances by famous artists (every night except during July and August) …

Café Carlyle - Woody Allan is on here every Monday night

I had a great site inspection, seeing the stylish rooms under the wing of Adrian Norbury ...

Adrian is Director of Sales & Marketing

Beautiful comfortable beds

Stylish rooms

Rooms in the tower have a magnificent view

And all so beautifully New York...

Asian style in New York

High above New York lies the Mandarin Oriental, a byword in Asian style luxury. This beautiful property has a great location at Columbus Circle on 60th Street. No ground floor rooms here as the hotel is situated between the 35th and 54th floors.  The lower floors house offices and a shopping gallery.

Stylish Mandarin style bedrooms with a choice of view
to Hudson River or Central Park

Stunning views from stunning rooms...

...even from this bathroom
on the 42nd floor

With my love of spas, an obvious point of call on my hotel inspection yesterday was the Mandarin Oriental spa...

Beautiful spa with 25m pool

Then there is MO lifestyle, and places to meet and dine:

The popular MO Bar

Lobby lounge on the 35th floor



Asiate restaurant facing wintry Central Park...

...on the 35th floor - here you come for
excellent Asian crossover food

Our lunch at Asiate was great, under the capable eye of chef Toni Robertson. A well balanced  Sea Bass with Shellfish Bisque, White Bean Purée and Crispy Chorizo…



This was delicious!

And so was this...



Lychee green tea - lovely!

Happy new year!

New Year’s Eve is a time of celebration, partying all night long, or dining deliciously with friends as we did. We enjoyed  traditional Swedish new year fare at the home of Fredrik’s brother Peter Gyllenhammar, in very good company …

All set for celebration with traditional Swedish
new year food:  lobster and roast fillet of beef

Peter prepares the fillet of beef

Well satisfied

Dessert: lemon mousse

Lalia and Fredrik deep in conversation

Here with Sten, another good friend

I wish all my loved ones, friends, beautiful staff
and valued clients a Happy New Year...

 May all your dreams come true in the year ahead…

The most Royal of Palms

Royal Palm, Mauritius. The name evokes  the utmost in exclusivity and charm. Add to that arrival by helicopter and you fall deeply in love with this pride of the Beachcomber chain…

Our visit was a daytrip to have lunch with our cherished partners at Royal Palm.

Helitours are always exciting...
Jonatan & Louise ready to go

 

Leaving Dinarobin … fabulous sight!

Dinarobin and its famous beach
seen from the air

 

View from the helicopter as we head north

 

We passed over one of our new Beachcomber resorts Trou aux Biches – a totally recreated five star resort on the site of the original popular four star one. Trou aux Biches commands an attractive beach washed by sheltered waters – a lovely resort of luxury villas and suites.

 

Trou aux Biches and its palm lined beach
seen from our helicopter

 

 

And now we land, for lunch at Royal Palm.

Our excellent company over lunch GM Jacques Silvant and Deputy GM Stephane Sogliuzzo.

Lunch under the palms

 

Lovely Gazpacho

Main course - Sword fish

 

Time to get updated.

 

Kids Club - right size!

 

 

The Clarins spa at Royal Palm is a lavish facility, with sparkling, gushing water features and freeform pool with sundeck – along with sophisticated amenities for health and beauty.

 

A froth of water and palms -
Royal Palm's luxurious spa

 

And now for our return to Dinarobin - more water....

Good bye Royal Palm. Going back
in a speed boat …

 

Returning to Dinarobin - A lovely journey,
an exquisite hotel.

 

Many thanks Jacques and Stephane at Royal Palm – and Micheline, wish you could have been here too…

Coming home to Dinarobin...

I feel like I have come home. Wonderful to be back at Dinarobin and Paradis, these warm and friendly resorts on this endless beach, with gorgeous mountain backdrop and shimmering sea. Especially nice to be met by dear friends including Jean Marc Lagesse...

 

Waking up at Dinarobin...palmy paradise.

 

Our first dinner was at Il Gusto. Il Gusto is an Italian restaurant with Tuscan influence, pool terrace and  views of the beach and sea. Lovely companions:

Jean Marc Lagesse MD of Paradis and Dinarobin and
Bruno Tula GM Paradis

 

 

 

Tempting dessert...

 

Dinarobin has four restaurants and nearby Paradis a whole lot more. You can choose to eat by the beach with your toes in the sand, or in more sophisticated atmosphere.  Freedom of choice!

And freedom to enjoy tennis, golf and watersports or just lie under a palm...

What more could you want?

Great night with Qatar

 

It was “wine tasting in business class”  with Qatar at the Select headquarters in Stockholm last night. Not only did we have a first class sommelier but we had authentic business class delights. Starting with a Launois Vintage Blanc de Blancs, known for its fullness, ripeness and roundness, we went on to wine tasting with sommelier Erica Landin, who is also a well known wine journalist.

All champagne, wine and food were selected from Qatar business class – classy and delicous.

It was a beautiful set up - 4 glasses each

 

Here are guests listening to a presentation
of Qatar and all the great wines.

 

Select client Peter Nilson together with
the sommelier Erica Landin

Erica was trained at Sweden’s gourmet hideaway in the hills at Grythyttan and writes for wine journals like Allt om vin, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Residence Magazine and Decanter. Eri­cas favourite is champagne, especially older vintages from smaller producers. This was a great chance to try her taste in champagne – see my snapshots of our happy customers at the wine tasting, below.
Some guests are not included as some of my pics did not turn out well, but I hope to see you all soon again so I can take some new shots...

 

 Together with Fredrik Gyllenhammar
(left) and Otto Nordhus

 

With Anna Nilsson and Malin Torkelsdotter Poole

Marie Lodin with a friend

 

Helene Tidstrand with a friend

 

Annie Strid, Karl Berglund &
Michael Tranell

Louise & Peter Jansson

 

Far right: Katarina Lagergren von Scheele. Her husband Thomas Lagergren is far left
Beyond Hans Fürstenbach &
Catrina Hertzen Fürstenbach

Tim Dennard & Lena Ödner

Anders Nelson (left) and
Marianne Feledy Wherten (in grey)

Our lovely Max from marketing
with Karl Berglund

Åsa Fröberg

 

Anette & Lars Procheus

 

Hellmuth Gretzer (left), Peter & Louise Jansson

Niklas & Maria Rockborn

 

Niclas Lövkvist & Linda Nyberg

 

I also made a speech to  express our happiness over the news that almost 3 months before the end of the year we have already passed last year's turnover... And last year was a good year.

                
It is not a coincidence; we work as hard now as we did 20 years ago when we started, and we have a  great team. We stay proactively at the frontline with new developments – like our concierge service.

We are now part owners of Quintessantially in Sweden which gives clients great benefits. Free concierge service when they travel with us:  restaurants reservations, opera, theatre and even advice on where to shop to get special products…

 

Very Select, as bespoke as you can get….