Experienced Venue Finder

We’ll help you to see the potential of new and exciting spaces and the possible pit falls of others. Some venues may present logistics issues or restrictions with regards to in-house caterers, bar tariffs and licensing or hours of business. Mirage manage theses challenges and use our years of experience working in corporate events to negotiate favourable rates and extensions for you. Our longstanding relationships with many great venues ensures you get the best on offer.

Top Venues in London, the UK and Internationally

Mirage party planners are experts at transforming venues to create the very best party environment and atmosphere. Take a look at some of the stunning parties and events that we’ve produced across a range of venues.

Celebrate at the Very Best London Venues

Here’s our top selection of London venues to consider for your next celebration.

The Dorchester – we organised a very memorable 90th birthday party at The Dorchester. Landmark celebrations call for the extraordinary and The Dorchester delivers in spades. The Dorchester’s most contemporary event room – the art deco inspired Crystal Suite – features a private entrance lobby, dramatic sweeping staircase and impressive views across Hyde Park.

Hotel Cafe Royal – we love the Queensbury Room for its generous space and beautiful vista.

The Ritz – you must see the Music Room with soaring windows that fill the space with natural light, and an intricately detailed shallow-arched ceiling.

The May Fair Hotel – we love the Salon private dining room tucked away in a discreet area of the hotel.

The Savoy – the Pinafore Room is one of the Savoy’s original private dining rooms, with views towards the Thames.

Claridges – the French Salon & Drawing Room boasting original Art Deco features and winged Renaissance-style cherubs above the doors.

Mossiman’s – we love The Garrard Room under the soaring silver arches of the Belfry’s grand dome.

The Bloomsbury Ballroom – the exquisite 1920’s Art Deco Venue for its versatile and flexible spaces.

Planning a Party?

Do you have a landmark anniversary approaching? Planning a party for a loved one? Mirage provide a discrete and personalised full party planning service, including event design, production and management. We manage the entire party planning process from venue, technical production, styling and lighting to entertainment and catering. Leaving you free to enjoy your guests and your party.


“CLASS War broke out on the streets of London on Saturday, as anarchists attacked banks, shops and other symbols of the capitalism and state. A Black Bloc, at least 500 strong, roamed freely through the West End of the British capital, picking off targets at will with bricks, paintbombs and fireworks.

Sporadic cops attempts to stop the Bloc were met with robust resistance and cops were forced to retreat on more than one occasion. As riot cops belatedly caught up with the action, the Bloc made a timely re-entry into the main TUC march, where police were unwilling to follow.

The successful day of high-profile action was only marred by the uninspiring behaviour of those sheep-like protesters who failed to express any anger at all at the neoliberal assault on their communities. Splinter groups broke off from the main body of more than 250,000 demonstrators marching from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park to launch an assault on the capital’s main shopping district. Some were hellbent on storming – or destroying – any London landmarks synonymous with luxury or money. Others targeted companies associated with tax avoidance. Hundreds laid siege to The Ritz hotel, attacking it with paint and smokebombs. A Porsche showroom was also smashed up and upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason was occupied by about 1,000 activists. On the streets outside, anarchists battled police. Some cops in Oxford Street were attacked, Other cops were hit with paint and flying bottles.”


Murat Köprülü

Murat Köprülü is a Turkish American investment professional and philanthropist. He is currently advisor on Emerging Markets to four hedge fund groups based in New York. He is also the Chairman of the American Turkish Society, founded in 1949,  the oldest U.S.-based not-for-profit organization that seeks to enhance economic, diplomatic, cultural, and educational ties between the United States and Turkey.

Business career
Murat Köprülü's long tenure in investing in emerging markets since 1987 establishes him as a global expert in emerging markets; he has survived the emerging markets upheavals of 1991 recession, the 1994 Mexican peso crisis, the 1997 East Asia Crisis, the 1998 Russian financial crisis, the early 2000s recession, and the Global financial crisis of 2008. Köprülü began his career at the World Bank, where he started at the age of 19 as a part-time consultant in computer modeling for the Research Department, while he was going to college. He then worked from 1980 through 1983 at the Turkey Desk and the Egypt Desk. From 1983 to 1986, Köprülü was Managing Director of IntraLink, Ltd., an international trade finance advisory firm, which provided financing sources for international trade transactions in a diverse list of emerging countries such as Egypt, Ivory Coast,
Greece, Turkey, and the Philippines.

Köprülü was formerly CEO of Multilateral Funding International (MFI), a New York based emerging markets investment and financial advisory firm, which he founded in 1988, specializing in the regions comprising Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey, Middle East, and Central Asia. He was also the  Managing Partner of MFI's brokerage affiliate, MFI Securities, L.P., trading in the capital markets of the same regions. In 2004, MFI established the Turkey Opportunity Fund to invest in Turkish equities. Köprülü is currently advisor on Emerging Markets to four hedge fund groups based in New York.

Köprülü is also one of the earliest members of the Bretton Woods Committee. He was presented with an Award of Excellence in 2004 from the International Center in New York. He wrote a seminal piece in the Bretton Woods Newsletter in September 2015 outlining his thesis that the emerging, growing global debt crisis of 2015-2016 would change the economies of the major world countries in significant ways.

Philanthropy
Köprülü's charitable work has mainly focused on strengthening educational and cultural ties between the U.S. and Turkey. He is the Chairman of The American Turkish Society. He is the Chairman of The American Turkish Society. He assumed this position in June 2007 after the passing of Ahmet Ertegun, the previous chairman of The Society, a prominent Turkish-American businessman and musician, and the founder of Atlantic Records, in 2006.

The American Turkish Society’s mission is to enhance business, economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties between Turkey and the United States. The Society convenes leaders in government, business, and civil society to discuss and advance U.S.-Turkish relations; fosters understanding and cooperation between the two countries through education, cultural exchange, philanthropy, and networking; informs the American public about Turkey’s current affairs, economy, history, and society; presents and supports programs highlighting Turkish arts and culture through its cultural outfit, Moon and Stars Project; organizes the annual New York Turkish Film Festival; and nurtures the next generation of leaders through its "Young Society Leaders" program.

Additionally, The Society has hosted annual gala dinners since 2006 to highlight and celebrate successful economic partnerships between the United States and Turkey and honor extraordinary business leaders who exemplify U.S.-Turkish friendship. Proceeds from the gala dinner support the American Turkish Society's wide-ranging educational and cultural programs.

The 2013 Benefit Gala, held at the New York Stock Exchange, celebrated U.S.-Turkish financial ties and honored U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Turkey Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek.

The 2015 Benefit Gala held at the Pierre Hotel Ballroom in New York City, celebrated the philanthropic and humanitarian achievements of two honorees: Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani  of the USA, and Husnu Ozyegin, founder and CEO of Fiba Holding of Turkey.

In early 2016 Mr. Koprulu founded and was elected Chairman of The American Immigrant Society with a group of fellow American immigrant citizens.  The American Immigrant Society encompasses every country of origin, every ethnicity, every culture and every religion, which is of course the “Melting Pot” that has always defined the nation. The American Immigrant Society believes that America has benefited tremendously throughout its history by welcoming tens of millions of immigrants and refugees from over 95 countries; that the nation is justly proud and lucky to have its extraordinary, hard-working, tenacious immigrant heritage, and must protect and enhance it for a prosperous future. The American Immigrant Society changes the negative narrative, challenges the stereotypes of America's most admired asset throughout the world. The American Immigrant Society seeks also to unite the nation’s major ethnic societies, and facilitate collaboration among leading non-profits committed to improving our celebration of the nation’s immigrant heritage.

He is also a long-time supporter/sponsor of Children International and Children USA, Feeding America, EMPower, SCS Children's Villages, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, U.S. Armed Forces – Iraq and Afghanistan Casualty Appeal, Salvation Army of Manhattan, Project Hope, Project Renewal of New York, CARE, City Harvest of New York, Coalition for the Homeless NYC, Goodwill Industries of NY/NJ, the Endometriosis Foundation of America, CityMeals-On-Wheels, New York Cares, and UNICEF.

Education and personal life
Köprülü holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and an M.Phil in International Trade and Finance from Columbia University. He is an expert on Middle East geopolitics & conflict, and is a frequent media commentator on emerging market economies, Turkey, and U.S.-Turkey relations. He is proficient in Spanish and fluent in English, Turkish and French.

Murat Köprülü has completed five New York City Marathons, two Bosphorus Swim Competitions, three Narragansett Bay Swim Competitions, [and, most recently], the Hunter Mountain Olympic Triathlon in September 2013. He received the Top Fundraiser Award honoring the highest Fundraiser for the New York City Marathon for Team NY Rotary in 2011. He completed the BikeMS biking competition in New York City for the National MS Society  in October 2015, and completed the TCS New York City Marathon in November 2015, running for the benefit of the New York-based charity,CityMeals-on-Wheels, and raising the most donor funds as the team runner.

He also recently finished the New York City Triathlon in July 2016, competing on behalf of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society  and becoming their top fundraiser for the triathlon.

Köprülü is a descendant of the Köprülü family, a  noble family of the Ottoman Empire. His father, Ertuğrul Mehmet Köprülü (1921-1983), was a Turkish diplomat to the U.S. and his grand uncle, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (1890-1966), was a Turkish politician and historian, known for his contributions to Ottoman history, Turkish folklore, and Turkish language.

References

External links
 Murat Köprülü executive biography at The American Turkish Society organizational web site
Video from Bloomberg Habertürk, "Murat Köprülü on the Activities of The American Turkish Society"
Audio Clip from Bloomberg News, "Koprulu Discusses Fundamentals in Emerging Markets"
 2015 Citymeals-on-Wheels NYC Marathon
 http://brettonwoods.org/page/september-2015-e-bulletin

Category:American chief executives of financial services companies
Category:American nonprofit businesspeople
Category:Turkish businesspeople
Category:American people of Turkish descent
Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:Living people
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)


Colin Peter Field

Colin Peter Field (born 17 May 1961 at Rugby, West Midlands, England) is a bartender and author who has been ranked as best bartender in the world by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines. He is the head bartender at the Hemingway Bar of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, voted Best of the Best Bar in the World by Virtuoso in Las Vegas in 2016, and has invented several drinks, such as the Picasso Martini, Highland Cream, Serendipity and Clean Dirty Martini. He is involved in the training of students for bartending in France and in Switzerland, and has authored the books The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris and Cocktails, A Simple Story.

Career
Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines have stated that Field is the world's best bartender. Forbes stated Field was the world's best bartender in 1997, 2001, and 2004. Field has presided over the Hemingway Bar at Hôtel Ritz Paris as head bartender. since its opening in 1994, though the hotel closed for refurbishment in 2012 and opened in 2016.

Field earned the Silver Medal for the Scott Cup for French Bartenders in 1982 before going on to take the Silver Medal for the World title(Martini Grand Prix for Bartenders in the same year.

He was the first bartender to be published in the French version of Who's Who, which occurred in 2011. Field has offered cocktail courses to the public at the Hôtel Ritz Paris, in which participants receive a signed certificate from Field upon completion of the course, and is involved in the training of students for bartending and degree courses in the Cesar Ritz school in Montreux, Switzerland.

In 2011 Field  created the world's first degree for Bartenders in France.  The M.O.F.(Meilleure Ouvrier de France). This is a B.A.C +2 level 3 from the Sorbonne University. Field was recruited by the French restaurant La Mer, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a consultant in the redesign of its L'Aperitif bar and drink menu. The bar's cocktail list was developed by Field. Field also reworked the drink list for the restaurant's Lewers Lounge. He has also provided consulting for hotels, such as the Carlyle Hotel and The Mark Hotel in New York.. He has worked on short missions or events in The Ritz Hotel, The Connaught Hotel, The Beaumont Hotel and Browns in London, The Taj Mumbai, The Pierre,and the Surrey Hotel in New York, The President Hotel and The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, The Vittoria Excelsior in Sorrento, Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Tuscany and Cipriani Hotel in Venise also The Orient Express V.S.O.E. During the Ritz Closure between 2012 and 2016, Field was a consultant, event organiser and worked with Air France aboard the A380 and Boeing 777 making cocktails in the air in First Class and Business Class to New York, Houston, Miami, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.

Mixologist
Field has invented drinks such as the Picasso Martini, which involves the use of an ice cube made with frozen dry vermouth and distilled water. Another Field drink invention is the Highland Cream cocktail, which he created in 1982. The Serendipity, which includes champagne, apple juice and mint, among other items, is another one of his inventions. The World's first Clean Dirty Martini was invented in the Hemingway Bar in 2016.

Guinness World Records listed Field as preparing the "first most expensive cocktail in the world, titled the Ritz Sidecar, which originally was sold for 400 euros initiating a race around the world to create more and more expensive cocktails. The Ritz Side Car was priced at €1,500 in 2016 rates, this is approximately US$1,796 in 2016. The current world record is held by Joel Heffernan's drink, the Winston, which was served on 7 February 2013 at Club 23, Melbourne, Australia. His cocktail in 2013 was US$12,916.

Field was also the impetus for the now global bartender tweezers, originally using surgeons' tweezers in 1994. Field was rather embarrassed at the time but carried on using them in cocktail contests and behind the Hemingway bar, going on to patent a style of cocktail tweezers in France.

Awards
In 1983 at the Martini World Championships, Field won a silver medal for France and the Silver Medal for The Scott Cup France.

Book
The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris is an illustrated book that covers various cocktails, their preparation and their history. Kate Moss, a personal friend of Field's, wrote the preface to Field's book. Moss is a regular customer at the Hemingway bar.

Publications
 The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris. Simon and Schuster. 2003. .
"Cocktails, A simple Story" Editions de La Martiniere, 2010.

See also
 List of bartenders

References

External links

 The Hemingway Bar at Hôtel Ritz Paris
 A Moment With...The Hemingway Bar's Colin Field. Daily Front Row. 8 February 2011.

Category:1961 births
Category:Bartenders
Category:Food writers
Category:Living people


Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills

Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills

Woodland Hills

Woodland Hills is an upscale neighborhood in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Nestled in the San Fernando Valley, visitors can discover the many natural wonders that the surrounding areas offer. Hike up to the Topanga Overlook for a stunning view of the San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica mountains. Another option is to enjoy Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, which offers 3,000 acres of trails, picnic areas, and spectacular views. History buffs can visit the Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center, while shopaholics may prefer the Westfield Topanga mall with over 300 stores. There are also many places to visit in Woodland Hillsthat are just a short drive away. Just 25 miles from here is downtown Los Angeles with all its main attractions, eclectic neighborhoods, and Hollywood glamour. Guests can also drive to one of the SoCal beaches for surfing and swimming or take a day trip to surrounding theme parks including Six Flags Magic Mountain, University Studios, and Getty Center. In the evening stroll along Ventura Boulevard to enjoy anything from fine-dining to simple pub fare. Later, catch a live music show at one of the lively bars and gastro-pubs.

Marriott For:

Best Available Rate Guarantee assures you receive the best rates when you book directly with us. If you find a lower publicly available rate within 24 hours of booking, we will match that rate plus give you 25% off the lower rate, subject to guarantee terms and exclusions. Guarantee does not apply to Ritz-Carlton Montreal, The Ritz London, Ritz-Carlton Residences®, and Starwood-Branded Hotels, including Four Points Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, Aloft Hotels, W Hotels, Le Meridien Hotels, Luxury Collection Hotels, Element Hotels, Westin Hotels, St. Regis Hotels, Tribute Portfolio Hotels and Design Hotels. Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® members (“Rewards Members”) who book rooms through a Marriott® Direct Booking Channel, authorized travel agents or select corporate travel partners ("Eligible Channels") at hotels that participate in Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards loyalty programs will receive an exclusive, preferred rate (“Marriott Rewards Member Rate”). Member Rates are available globally at all hotels that participate in Marriott Rewards Exclusions apply. See our Terms & Conditions for additional details related to our Best Available Rate Guarantee and Marriott Rewards Member Rate. Hotels shown on Marriott.com may be operated under a license from Marriott International, Inc. or one of its affiliates.


The prices for luxury apartments in city centers are soaring, and so too are their locations.

Property developers around the world are wooing mega-wealthy buyers with lavishly appointed skyscrapers in the most prestigious of neighborhoods, where large-scale lateral square footage is nearly impossible to find, according to a recent article in Wealth-X.

“Wealthy buyers want convenience,” Joanna Leverett, head of international new developments at Savills, told Wealth-X.

“Flagship developments provide services and facilities such as spas, wellness and restaurants that you wouldn’t normally get in a house, all within walking distance to the city’s restaurants and culture instead of being out in the sticks.”

These trophy residences are being designed by top architects and interior designers, and have the added benefit of being zero-maintenance, turnkey properties.

This type of apartment is easier on the rent and resale market too, said Edward de Mallet Morgan, head of super prime international property at Knight Frank. “More owners are renting out their properties where there is a good management, rental service or a concierge, as it is nice to have some income being generated to put towards annual running costs,” he said.

Following is the Top 10 most expensive luxury penthouses on the world, and the developers behind them.

10. One Madison, New York

Average price per square foot: $5,000

Penthouse: $43 million

Located on East 23rd Street in Manhattan, this slim 60-story glass tower already has some celebrity residents, including Tom Brady and Giselle Bündchen. Soon, they’ll be bumping in to Rupert Murdoch, who spent $57 million buying the top four floors of the building after he combined the triplex penthouse and the apartment below. One Madison has 53 units with amenities such as an indoor pool with marble walls and butler service.

Agent: The Related Companies

9. One Thousand Museum Condos, Miami

Average price per square foot: $1,100

Penthouse: $45 million

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, this building at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard is billed as “creating a six star lifestyle.” Amenities include two floors of wellness and spa facilities, a sunbathing terrace overlooking the Miami skyline and a private helipad. All the interior spaces have customized “building scenting,” with perfumes designed by olfactory consultants 12.29. Developed by Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman, the building is due to be completed in 2018.

Agent: Savills

8. Clermont Residence, Singapore

Average price per square foot: $2,360

Penthouse: $47 million

Clermont Residence is perched atop the 951-foot-high Tanjong Pagar Centre, Singapore’s tallest building. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the building, which is due for completion in 2016. There will be 180 apartments, including the 14,500-square-foot penthouse with its own private elevator. Residents of the Peck Seah Street building will be able to step out into Singapore’s prestigious Central Business District. The project is being run by Guocoland, the developer owned by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan.

Agent: Savills

7. 56 Leonard, New York

Average price per square foot: $6,000

Penthouse: $47 million

This Herzog & de Meuron-designed tower in Tribeca is almost entirely made from cantilevered glass, offering city views through floor-to-ceiling windows. The penthouse is under contract for $47 million, making it one of the most expensive residences ever to be sold in downtown Manhattan. An Anish Kapoor sculpture sits at the base of the building; inside there is a 25-seat cinema and a 75-foot lap pool.

Agent: Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group

6. Opus Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Average price per square foot: $10,740

Top published price: $58.6 million

Pritzker-winning Canadian architect Frank Gehry designed the 12-story Opus development, his first residential project in Asia. Located at the exclusive 53 Stubbs Road on the Peak, the building’s eighth floor apartment has already broken records as the most expensive ever sold in the city. Amenities include rainwater recycling for irrigation and electric car charge systems. However, the project has been temporarily derailed by the Hong Kong administration’s property-cooling measures introduced last year, including strict requirements on sales of first-hand property. For now, Opus is available only to rent.

Agent: Swire Properties

5. Tour Odéon, Monaco

Average price per square foot: $8,900

Top apartment: $65.7 million

At more than 550 feet, Tour Odéon will be the tallest building in Monaco, overlooking the entire principality and the Mediterranean sea. The double tower, due for completion in the next few weeks, includes 70 luxury apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows. ArchitectAlexandre Giraldi and Monegasque family-run developer Groupe Marzocco collaborated on the creation of the landmark, bringing in designer Alberto Pinto for the interiors and Jean Mus to create the gardens. The 35,500 square feet “Sky Penthouse” will occupy the top five floors of the building. Although the price of the penthouse has yet to be revealed, reports put it as high as $387 million, which would make it the most expensive apartment in the world.

Agent: Knight Frank

4. South Bank Tower, London

Average price per square foot: $3,300

Penthouse: $90 million, asking price

South Bank Tower was originally a 30-story structure designed by Sir Richard Seifert in 1972. Developer CIT recently acquired the building, and brought in Kohn Pedersen Fox Associatesto redesign it, with interior design from Johnson Naylor. They have transformed the building into a 41-story offering of 191 luxury apartments and office space. Due for completion in 2015, the building is on the River Thames, and overlooks the London Eye and the city beyond. The penthouse will be a triplex with two roof terraces.

Agents: Savills and CBRE

3. One57, New York

Average price per square foot: $6,000

Penthouse: $90 million (sold in 2012)

Rising 1,004 feet over Midtown Manhattan on 57th Street, this development is the tallest residential building in New York. Developed by Gary Barnett’s Extell, it claims to be a vertical billionaire’s row. There are 95 condos with amenities that include a yoga studio, an arts-and-crafts atelier room and a pet grooming room. French Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc envisioned the project, while Thomas Juul-Hansen did the interiors. The flagship Park Hyatt New York and its health club and spa at the base of the building will open this summer, designed by interior designers Yabu Pushelburg.

Agent: One57

2. 432 Park Avenue, New York

Average price per square foot: $6,742

Penthouse: $95 million

A Midtown Manhattan neighbor of One57, 432 Park Avenue is the brainchild of property tycoon Harry Macklowe. It was designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, with interiors byDeborah Berke. Due for completion in 2015, it will be the second tallest residential building in New York. The residents-only restaurant is designed by Bentel & Bentel, and will have an adjacent outdoor terrace above 57th street to accommodate 300 guests. The penthouse will have six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a library. Other amenities include a wine cellar, a 75-foot indoor swimming pool and a spa and fitness center.

Agent: Macklowe Properties

1. One Hyde Park, London

Average price per square foot: $9,906

Penthouse: $227 million

The signature development of the Candy brothers, One Hyde Park, though not a skyscraper, is probably London’s most hotly-discussed residential building, according to Wealth-X. The building’s interior designer Candy & Candy says the penthouse sold for $227 million, while other reports have suggested the actual price was lower. Christian Candy is listed as an owner, along with Qatari financial backer Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani. Amenities include a golf-simulator, private cinema and squash court. Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners provided the architectural design, and Mandarin Oriental Hotel group runs the concierge.

Agents: Savills, Aylesford, Strutt & Parker

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Union Square (Hong Kong)

Union Square is a commercial and residential real estate project in Hong Kong on the West Kowloon reclamation. Covering , the site has a gross floor area of , approximately the size of the Canary Wharf development in London. As of 2011, the site contained some of the tallest buildings in Hong Kong — including the tallest commercial building in Hong Kong, the 118-story International Commerce Centre and the loftiest residential tower in Hong Kong, The Cullinan ( high).

Location and accommodation
Union Square is located at 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It occupies part of the 340 hectares of land reclaimed from Victoria Harbour in the 1990s to construct a highway and rail link to the new Hong Kong International Airport, and it integrates the Kowloon Station of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. The built area includes 5,866 residential units (totalling ), 2,230 hotel rooms, and 2,490 serviced apartments with  of combined hotel and serviced apartment space and  of office space. This development has a  shopping mall, Elements.

The name Union Square is not well known and is seldom used, and as such, people tend to refer to its constituent parts, such as the Elements mall, the ICC, the W Hotel and the various luxurious private apartment complexes.

Planning and concept
The contract to build and operate the airport railway was awarded to MTR Corporation in 1992. The master plan for Union Square, comprising the massive air rights development surrounding Kowloon Station, was laid out by TFP Farrells. The architects envisioned a three-dimensional mixed-use urban quarter, with numerous towers sitting atop a massive podium.

According to Sir Terry Farrell, MTR Corporation initially wanted a dispersed train station with discreet entrances, but he argued for a grand station hall concept with layered space oriented around Kowloon Station providing a central focal point. Transport infrastructure occupies the underground level and first floor – loading facilities and platforms for MTR trains on the Tung Chung and Airport Express lines occupying the sub-terranean level; while the ground level has bus stations, parking garage entrances and mechanical rooms. The Elements Mall on the upper decks takes up , with retail space occupied by luxury brands, chain stores, a cinema, a supermarket, restaurants, and an ice rink.

On the roof of the Union Square shopping mall, three storeys above the ground, is a pseudo ground level public place with walkways, gardens and a central plaza surrounded by outdoor cafés and bars. Entrances to the various building complexes of Union Square are located on this level. Although Union Square was conceived as an interconnected space centred on transport infrastructure, it was criticised in a 2013 University of Hong Kong study as being cut off from its surroundings, especially for pedestrians. Paul Zimmerman said Union Square is "an island of the rich disconnected from its surroundings", and a lesson for future urban planners. This concern is shared by Farrell, who said there were pre-determined site constraints, and little could be done to mitigate them.

Building Complexes

The Waterfront

The Waterfront (), phase I of Union Square, was developed by the consortium led by Wing Tai Asia, including Temasek Holdings, Singapore Land, Keppel Land, Lai Sun Development, World-wide Investment and USI Holdings. The residential complex consists of 1,288 apartments in 6 towers and was completed in 2000, together with Dickson Cyber Express, a  cyber shopping mall of Dickson Concepts which was closed after the internet bubble burst. There is a private clubhouse with various facilities, such as swimming pool, badminton court, tennis court, dance room, reading room, karaoke room and a party room for holding different kinds of activities. The residential complex has its own underground car park for residents. There are a lot of greenings within the estate, and the whole estate area is non-smoking. Residents need to show their resident cards before entering the estate. Visitors cannot enter without permission.

Sorrento

Sorrento () is a residential complex occupying the northern edge of Union Square. The complex was built by  The Wharf Estate Development Ltd. and MTR Corporation. It contains five residential towers completed in 2003 and was designed by Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd.

The towers are named Sorrento 1 through Sorrento 6. As in many buildings in Hong Kong, tower 4 is omitted because, in cantonese, "4" is a homophone for "death". All five towers follow the same design but reducing in height consecutively with the tallest being Sorrento 1, and the shortest, Sorrento 6. Sorrento 1 is 256 metres (841 feet) tall with 75 floors. It is the 2nd tallest residential building in Hong Kong and the 5th in the world. There are a total of 2,126 units in Sorrento. Between Sorrento 2 and Sorrento 3 is a gap, where a foot bridge connects the residential complex to Kowloon Station and Elements.

The Harbourside

The Harbourside () is a  tall residential skyscraper in Union Square, phase 4 of the Kowloon Station development. Construction of the 74-storey complex began in 2001 and was completed in 2004 under the design by P & T Architects & Engineers.

The Harbourside appears to be a one-wall building from a distance. However, there are actually three towers joined in the base, middle and top. The gaps between the towers help relieve the stress caused by wind since the complex has a large surface area, allowing it to act as a sail. All floors are used for residential purpose.

The Harbourside is the 91st tallest building in the world when measured up to the highest architectural point.

The Arch

The Arch () is an 81-floor 231-metre (758 feet) tall skyscraper completed in 2006 in Union Square. It is the third-tallest residential building in Hong Kong, consisting of four towers: Sun Tower, Star Tower, Moon Tower, and Sky Tower. The Star Tower is connected to the Moon Tower, while the Sky Tower is connected to the Sun Tower. The Sun and Moon Towers joined on the 69th floor and above to form an arch, hence the name "The Arch".

Sun Hung Kai Properties, the developer of the project, was criticised for its sales tactics of The Arch in 2005, for the practice of "internal sales" in unfinished units, the absence of sale price-lists, and also for hyping sales for flats in The Arch by announcing inflated prices (per square metre) achieved. A buyer apparently paid HK$168 million (HK$31,300 per square foot) for a  penthouse. Sweeteners were allegedly given (discounts given to the same purchaser on other units bought), but were excluded from the calculation. This allowed the company to raise prices of the next batch of 500 units by 5–10 percent. However, Sun Hung Kai Properties denied the allegations.

The Cullinan

The Cullinan (), phase 6 of Union Square, is a residential complex developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties. It is the tallest residential complex in Hong Kong, with 68 storeys and a height of 270 metres (886 feet). It consists of two towers, the North Tower and the South Tower, both of which were completed in 2008 and 2009 consecutively.

The residential complex was named after the 3,106-carat (621.2 g) Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond in the world, found in 1905. The Cullinan complex was planned to be 45 storeys until the cancellation of Union Square phase 5. The number of floors was then increased to the current 68.

International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre (ICC),
phase 7 of Union Square, is a 118-floor, 484-meter (1,588 ft) commercial skyscraper completed in 2010, owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation and Sun Hung Kai Properties. It is currently the world's fourth tallest as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong. The five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel currently occupies floors 102 to 118.

Shopping complex

Elements, the shopping mall in Union Square, occupies . As of 2008, it had a total of 123 shops, with an ice rink, and the 1600-seat multiplex Grand Cinema which is currently the largest cinema complex in Hong Kong.

Access
Union Square can be accessed easily by public transportation, including MTR, Kowloon Motor Bus and minibus.

Public transport
MTR
Kowloon Station - Tung Chung Line/Airport Express Line
Austin Station - West Rail Line
Bus and minibus
Buses and minibuses serving Union SquareKowloon Motor Bus
8- Kowloon Station ↔ Star Ferry
11- Diamond Hill Station ↔ Kowloon Station
203E- Choi Hung ↔ Kowloon Station
215X- Lam Tin (Kwong Tin Station) ↔ Kowloon Station
259B- Tuen Mun Ferry ↔ Kowloon Station
261B- Sam Shing → Kowloon Station
281A- Kwong Yuen ↔ Kowloon Station
296D- Sheung Tak ↔ Kowloon Station
Minibus
26- Kowloon Station ↔ To Kwa Wan
74- Kowloon Station ↺ Mong Kok
74S- Kowloon Station ↺ Ho Man Tin Hill
77M- Kowloon Station ↔ East Tsim Sha Tsui Station

Image gallery

See also
 List of tallest buildings in Hong Kong

References

External links

Union Square official website (archive)
Union Square on Emporis.com


Daniel Boulud

Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, London, and Singapore. He is best known for Daniel, his eponymous, Michelin currently 2-star restaurant in New York City.

While raised on a farm outside of Lyon and trained by a variety of French chefs, Boulud made his reputation in New York, first as a chef and most recently a restaurateur. His management company, The Dinex Group, currently includes fifteen restaurants, three locations of a gourmet grocery (Epicerie Boulud) and Feast & Fêtes Catering. His restaurants include Daniel, Café Boulud, db bistro moderne, Bar Boulud, DBGB Kitchen & Bar, and Boulud Sud.

Culinary background
At fifteen, Boulud earned his first professional recognition as a finalist in France's competition for Best Culinary Apprentice. Boulud worked in France with Roger Vergé, Georges Blanc and Michel Guérard and later in Copenhagen before becoming the private chef to the European Commission in Washington, D.C.

After moving to New York City, Boulud opened the Polo Lounge at The Westbury Hotel, followed by Le Régence at the Hotel Plaza Athenée. From 1986 to 1992, he was a critically acclaimed executive chef at Le Cirque.

Restaurants
Boulud opened Daniel in Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1993, before relocating the restaurant to a Venetian renaissance-inspired setting at Park Avenue and 65th Street in 1998. The original Daniel was re-launched as the Café Boulud. He followed these openings by founding a more casual restaurant in Manhattan's theater district in 2001, and a second-second Café Boulud in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2003. Daniel Boulud Brasserie opened in 2005 inside the Wynn Las Vegas, three years before Bar Boulud, a French bistro opposite New York City's Lincoln Center, was opened in January 2008, the same year he opened Boulud à Pékin in Beijing.

In December 2008, after the departure of founding chef Rob Feenie, Boulud reopened Vancouver restaurants Lumière and Feenie's (renaming the latter "db Bistro Moderne", making it the sister restaurant to db Bistro Moderne in Manhattan). Boulud became the chef, consulting chef and co-partner. The two restaurants were closed on 13 March 2011, two years after opening DBGB Kitchen & Bar, a Pan-European brasserie, in New York City. In 2009, Boulud also announced that he was looking to start his next venture in London. Bar Boulud London opened on May 29, 2010 inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Knightsbridge, becoming the first Boulud's restaurant in Europe.

Daniel Boulud Brasserie closed on 4 July 2010, when Wynn chose not to renew the contract between Boulud & The Resort (see Wynn Las Vegas for more). In 2013, it was confirmed that the restaurant would re-open at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas in Spring of 2014.

2011 saw many new Bolud openings, including a db Bistro Moderne at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, a Maison Boulud in Ritz-Carlton Montreal, as well as Boulud Sud next to Bar Boulud, and Épicerie Boulud, a market/deli. In the following year, d|bar opened in the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, while Bar Boulud Boston opened on 16 September 2014 inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Boston. A third location of Epicerie Boulud then opened in the Oculus World Trade Center in November 2016.

Awards
Both Daniel Boulud and his restaurants have received a number of awards. Daniel has been rated one of the top ten restaurants in the world by the International Herald Tribune, received Gourmet's Top Table Award, a four-star rating from The New York Times, Wine Spectator's Grand Award, and New York City's top ratings for cuisine, service and decor in the Zagat Survey. The flagship New York City restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars in the 2010 Michelin, the book's highest rating. As of August 28, 2012, he had 4 Michelin Stars in total and in January 2013, Daniel NYC was inducted into Culinary Hall of Fame. The restaurant, however, lost its third Michelin star in 2015 for "a lack of consistency".

Boulud himself has been named Chef of the Year by Bon Appétit, and received the James Beard Award for Best Chef of New York City in 1992 while Executive Chef at Le Cirque. The James Beard Foundation also recognized him as "Outstanding Chef of the Year" in 1994 and "Outstanding Restaurateur" in 2006 for restaurant Daniel. In April 2007 he received the Culinary Humanitarian Award at the United Nations from the Adopt-a-Mine Field Foundation. The President of France made Boulud a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in March 2006 in recognition for his contribution to the advancement of French culture. Boulud also won the International Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 The Catey Awards.

Television

Boulud previously hosted "After Hours with Daniel" a behind-closed-doors look at the late night dinners, by chefs and for chefs. The series revealed where chefs go to unwind after a night behind the stove and uncovered the foods they crave and cook for each other.  The first season was filmed in New York City restaurants and the second, on the West Coast, in Los Angeles restaurants. The third season of the show featured restaurants in the New Orleans and Miami culinary scene.

Boulud has also been a featured chef on Great Chefs television, and appeared in the second-season finale of the Canadian television program Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag, where his cookbook Chef Daniel Boulud: Cooking in New York City was being tested.  Boulud appeared as the guest judge along with chefs from his restaurants located in Vancouver: Stephane Istel, executive chef at DB Bistro Moderne & Dale MacKay, executive chef at Lumière.  Boulud's cookbook received the "A & K Stamp of Approval" at the end of the episode.

Boulud appeared as a guest judge in Season 1 and 3 of Top Chef Canada.

Boulud appeared as himself in the television drama series Billions, episode "Flaw in the Death Star", season 3.

Community involvement

Daniel Boulud works to support several charities focusing his efforts on hunger relief and culinary education. He has been the board Co-President of Citymeals-on-Wheels since 2003 and hosts an annual gala for the charity each spring. This non-profit organization that provides home-delivered, nutritious meals to frail, homebound elderly in New York City. On 13 April 2008 Daniel Boulud hosted an intimate Sunday supper to mark the 10th anniversary of Savoring Citymeals, an annual gourmet event he has hosted since 1998.

The Daniel Boulud Scholarship Endowment Fund was established by the chef's business partner, Joel Smilow, in 2005. The fund provides education enabling promising young American cooks to pursue professional culinary studies in France.

In 2008, Paul Bocuse asked Boulud to establish a structure for the selection of the Bocuse d'Or Team USA, who along with Thomas Keller and Jérôme Bocuse form the Board of Directors of the Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation. The first Bocuse d'Or USA competition was held in September 2008.

Mr. Boulud settled with the workers, seven current and former employees of Latin American and Bangladeshi descent, for $80,000 and agreed to set up standards and procedures for promotions to be overseen by the EEOC & the state attorney general's office.

Books
 Cooking with Daniel Boulud (1993)
 Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud Cookbook (1999)
 In 2001, Boulud allowed author Leslie Brenner near unlimited access to Daniel the result was the 2002 book The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant which gives some insight into the workings of the chef and how he operates.
 Daniel Boulud Cooking in New York City (2002)
 Daniel’s Dish, Entertaining at Home with a Four Star Chef (2003)
 Letters to a Young Chef (2003)
 Braise: a Journey Through International Cuisine (2006)
 Daniel – My French Cuisine by Daniel Boulud (Author), Sylvie Bigar (Author), Thomas Schauer (Photographer), Bill Buford (Contributor) (2013)

References

Further reading
 Feast & Fetes covered in New York Parties - Private Views by Jamee Gregory - Nov 2010

External links
 Daniel Boulud's Official Website
 Superstar New York Chef Joins Vancouver's Lumiere
 Interview with Chef Boulud and Video of Restaurant
 New York Times Article on EEOC findings Aug. 1, 2007

Category:1955 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Rhône (department)
Category:French chefs
Category:French cuisine
Category:Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants
Category:French restaurateurs
Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners


Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi

Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi is a musical written by Phil Willmott and Elliot Davis. It received its world premiere at the Liverpool Playhouse, England from June to August 2008. The production starred Julie Atherton and Simon Bailey, was directed by Phil Willmott with musical direction and arrangements by Elliot Davis, choreography by Andrew Wright, associate musical direction and additional arrangements by Mark Collins, set and costume design by Christopher Woods and sound design by Jason Barnes.

It was written and produced for the Liverpool '08 Capital of Culture celebrations and featured a professional cast of principals and an ensemble from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

Narrative

Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi follows two stories; in the present day, Jo works at the world-famous Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.  On a busy day of hen parties and difficult customers, Jo is informed by her colleague and boyfriend, Neil, that somebody is on the hotel's roof. Upon finding the female stranger, she tells Jo she wants to meet her ex-lover, Thompson - and reveals an epic story of the Adelphi Hotel's history, when Hollywood actors stayed there en route to UK and European destinations. Many of the stories are based on actual events, for example, Roy Rogers riding his horse Trigger in the hotel. The show portrays this event on the roof, whereas in real life Rogers reportedly waved at the crowd from the balcony.

Back in the present, Jo is having trouble when Neil asks her to leave Liverpool and move to Japan with him, but she is more interested in hearing the strange woman's stories. It transpires that she also worked at the hotel in the past, where she fell in love with a young vagabond called Thompson, whom she helped obtain employment at the hotel in order to get his life in order. However, during a misunderstanding over a stolen ring, Thompson left the hotel and joined the Resistance and fought in the Second World War. Years later, whilst Liverpool was under heavy bombardment, Thompson promised to return so they could dance on the roof of the hotel.

In the present day, Neil tries to research the stranger's story so that Jo can return to her work and, hopefully, leave Liverpool with him that night. Finally, the stranger reveals how a dance for American soldiers in the Adelphi ballroom was interrupted by a destructive air-raid, and she tried to reach the roof to meet with Thompson.  Neil interrupts the story and tells Jo that he has discovered that the stranger had died in that air-raid. Jo realises life is too short to deny love, and agrees to leave with Neil. As they embrace, Thompson arrives,  and in the rain, the reunited couple finally dance on the roof, joined by the spirits of the show's characters.

Awards Productions

Adelphi won the 2008 TMA Award for Best Musical Production and was nominated for Best Regional Production at the 2009 WhatsOnStage Awards. A section of the show was performed at the awards ceremony at the Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 15 February 2009.  The section starred Julie Atherton as Young Alice and Tom Oakley as Thompson, supported by an ensemble of final year students from Arts Ed school in London. It was choreographed by Andrew Wright and conducted by Mark Collins.

The show also received a West End showcase at the Trafalgar Studios in November 2008 conducted by Elliot Davis. The show received a full staging in London's Union Theatre in March 2010.

The musical was given its amateur premiere on Merseyside at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton in May 2010 by West Kirby Light Opera Society ( WKLOS ), who worked with the writer to turn it into a full scale singing and dancing musical, with orchestra.
The show is returning to the Floral Pavilion New Brighton in June 2018, marking the 10th anniversary of Liverpool's Capital of Culture Year.

Musical Numbers

Act I
"Somebody on the Roof" - Jo, Neil and Company
"Thompson" - Alice and Company
"Once in a Lifetime" - Lord Rothmore, Young Alice, Thompson and Company
"First Romances" - Thompson's Mum
"Show Tune" - Thompson and Company
"Rats" - Thompson and Company
"A Wedding and a Yacht" - Babs, Maids, Movie Stars and Reporters
"Yippee Ai Eh!" - Roy Rodgers and Babs
"Tell Her" - Thompson, Babs, Young Alice, Fritz
"Once in a Lifetime (Reprise)" -Thompson, Babs, Young Alice, Fritz, Roy

Act II
"Thompson from Accounts" - Young Alice, Alice, Thompson and Company
"Tell Them" - Babs and Thompson
"Dance for me Boy" - Delores Gilmore
"The Next Ten Seconds" - Young Alice
"Somehow" - Neil
"Take a Moment" - Older Thompson
"Just Fine" - Young Alice, Alice and Company
"Dance for Me/Boogey Woogey Dance Routine" - Company
"Tell Him" - Alice and Thompson
"Finale" - Company

References

External links
 Phil Willmott Writer/Director
 West Kirby Light Opera Society

Category:2008 musicals
Category:British musicals


The Front Bottoms will throw their recurring holiday party, Champagne Jam, at all three rooms of NYC's Webster Hall on December 18 this year. The lineup is very cool as always, with fellow Jersey greats Screaming Females, plus Brick + Mortar, Diet Cig, Jank, American Trappist, The Big Easy, Dollys, Hodera, and a few more TBA. Doors are at 4 PM and the show starts at 5. Tickets go on sale Friday (8/19) at noon.

The Front Bottoms are also touring with Brand New and Modern Baseball this year. They also play the Atlantic City stop (9/5) of blink-182's tour, which hits Brooklyn's Barclays Center tonight (8/17). All TFB dates are listed below.

On the Champagne Jam lineup is the buzzed-about Philly punk band Jank, who recently released the Versace Summer EP. You can check that out here:

The Front Bottoms -- 2016/2017 Tour Dates

Aug 17 Kiewit Hasselt, Belgium

Aug 19 HIGHFIELD Großpösna, Germany

Aug 20 Green Park St Polten, Austria

Sep 02 Seattle Center Seattle, WA

Sep 05 Atlantic City Beach (w/ blink-182) Atlantic City, NJ

Sep 30 ACL Music Festival Austin, TX

Oct 07 ACL Music Festival Austin, TX

Oct 13 Main Street Armory (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Rochester, NY

Oct 14 Glens Falls Civic Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Glens Falls, NY

Oct 15 Cross Insurance Arena( w/ Brand New) Portland, ME

Oct 17 Oakdale Theatre (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Wallingford, CT

Oct 18 Ithaca College Athletics and Events Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Ithaca, NY

Oct 20 Wolstein Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Cleveland, OH

Oct 21 DeltaPlex (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Grand Rapids, MI

Oct 22 Eagels Ballroom (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Milwaukee, WI

Oct 23 Roy Wilkins Auditorium (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Saint Paul, MN

Oct 25 The District (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Sioux Falls, SD

Oct 27 Adams Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Missoula, MT

Oct 28 Revolution Event Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Garden City, ID

Oct 29 Grand Sierra Resort (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Reno, NV

Oct 31 Event Center at San Jose State University (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) San Jose, CA

Nov 01 Chelsea Theatre (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Las Vegas, NV

Nov 03 El Paso County Coliseum (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) El Paso, TX

Nov 05 Concrete Street (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Corpus Christi, TX

Nov 07 Alabama Theatre (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Birmingham, AL

Nov 08 Bon Secours Arena (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Greenville, SC

Nov 10 Eagle Bank Arena (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Fairfax, VA

Nov 11 PPL Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) Allentown, PA

Nov 12 Bryce Jordan Center (w/ Brand New, Modern Baseball) University Park, PA

Nov 19 Academy Dublin, Ireland

Nov 20 Rock City Nottingham, United Kingdom

Nov 21 O2 ABC Glasgow, United Kingdom

Nov 22 O2 Ritz Manchester, United Kingdom

Nov 23 O2 INSTITUTE Birmingham, United Kingdom

Nov 25 Northumbria University Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Nov 26 Leeds Beckett Students Union Leeds, United Kingdom

Nov 28 O2 Academy Bristol, United Kingdom

Nov 29 1865 Southampton, Uk

Nov 30 Melkweg Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dec 02 Kantine Cologne, Germany

Dec 03 O2 Forum London, United Kingdom

Dec 18 Webster Hall New York, NY (Champagne Jam)

Jan 20 Amplifier Bar Perth, Australia

Jan 21 ENIGMA BAR Adelaide, Australia

Jan 22 Corner Hotel Melbourne, Australia

Jan 24 Brisbane Hotel Hobart, Australia

Jan 26 The Basement Canberra, Australia

Jan 27 Bald Faced Stag Sydney, Australia

Jan 28 SMALL BALLROOM Newcastle, Australia

Jan 29 The Brightside Brisbane, Australia

The Front Bottoms recently played Panorama Festival. Check out pics of that in the gallery:


The Green Eye of the Yellow God

The Green Eye of the Yellow God, a 1911 poem by J. Milton Hayes, is a famous example of the genre of "dramatic monologue", a music hall staple in the early twentieth century. The piece was written for and performed by actor and monologist Bransby Williams.  It has often been misattributed to Rudyard Kipling, who classed its author as being among his many imitators, and often parodied, most famously by Billy Bennett as The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog.

The opening lines are still very well known:

It is set in Nepal ("to the north of" Kathmandu), and tells the tale of a wild young officer known as "Mad Carew", who steals the "green eye" of a "yellow god" (presumably an emerald in a gold statue) in order to impress his beloved. He is wounded in the course of the robbery, and later murdered, presumably by a devotee of the god for the theft, who returns the jewel to the idol.

Hayes's account
In his book My Brother Evelyn and Other Profiles, Alec Waugh gives Hayes's account of the writing of the poem:

Location

Hayes was inaccurate in the conflation of Nepal with India. While Britain achieved colonial control of India between 1858 and 1947, it never did so over Nepal. The political and military agreements between the two countries were therefore quite different. Any British officer in Nepal on official business at the time might have belonged to one of the Gurkha regiments, which recruited from Nepal. However, beyond the statement that "he was worshipped in the ranks" we are told little about Mad Carew's military background. He may have simply been on cross-border leave from India.

In December 2011, the BBC radio programme From Our Own Correspondent broadcast a piece by journalist Joanna Jolly in which she detailed a trip she made to Sankhu, a village to the north-east of Kathmandu. On a hill near the village is the Bajrayogini Temple in which there is a gold-plated statue of the Tantric goddess Bajrayogini, who is worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists.  In the Newar community the goddess is called Mhasu Khwa Maju (Yellow Faced Mother Goddess). The statue has silver eyes which are only put in during festivals. Although there is no evidence that Hayes ever visited the area, the temple is mentioned in written sources dating back at least 200 years, so it is entirely plausible that he could have heard stories of this statue and the unusual practices regarding its eyes from returning colonial military personnel and wove these elements into his dramatic monologue.

References in popular culture

Charles Laughton and Vivien Leigh recite this poem in the film Sidewalks of London, also known as St. Martins Lane (1938).

In an episode of Upstairs, Downstairs, Mr. Hudson recites the opening lines at a seaside holiday outing by the staff of 165 Eaton Place on the last day of peace before World War I began.

In the episode "The Fear of Wages" of the long-running radio comedy The Goon Show, characters trying to come up with excuses frequently answer along the lines of; "Well, it's a long story. You see...", and then quoting the opening lines (or variations) of the poem dramatically. In "The Shifting Sands", Bloodnok distorts it again, with "There's a little green-eyed idol to the north of Kathmandu... but the wind blew up the chimney just the same".

John Lennon uses the opening line in the posthumously released song "Nobody Told Me" (changing "one-eyed" to "little").

In Doctor Who, the Doctor uses the opening lines on regaining consciousness in the 4th Doctor story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", although he misattributes them to music hall comic Harry Champion.

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine use part of the opening in their song "Perfect Day to Drop the Bomb", which starts "To the north of Kathmandu there's tiny children sniffing glue".

The poem is parodied in Series 2 of Danger Mouse in the episode "Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God."

Tony Randall reads the poem on the episode of The Muppet Show on which he guest stars.

In an episode of the BBC sitcom Kiss Me Kate, the character Craig Chapman played by Darren Boyd begins reciting the poem with actions, but is prevented from completing it when Chris Langham's Douglas Cameron character refuses to cooperate.

Steptoe and Son actor Harry H. Corbett used this poem as the B-side to his 1963 Pye Records release "Like The Big Guys Do"

In I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again the spoof serial "Curse of the Flying Wombat" is based on the search for the "Green eye of the little yellow dog" in Kathmandu.

In an episode of Duty Free, the British couples enter a talent contest in their hotel. One of their number attempts to recite the poem to the non-English speaking audience, who mistake his earnest performance for a comedy routine. Their laughter is unappreciated, making him retort: "It's not funny! The poor bugger's dead!"

Biggles and the Little Green God (1969) has Biggles seeking a jade statuette believed by South American Indians to be the god Ata-Hua.  The poem is directly referenced at the start of the book and occasionally thereafter.

The poem also has a number of references in the 1986 computer game Dizzy - The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure in which various lines of the poem are displayed in banners, where they serve as cryptic clues as to how to solve certain puzzles.

In "The Adventure of the Six Maledictions" by Kim Newman, Mad Carew flees to England with the emerald, pursued by the yellow god's devotees, and turns to the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty for protection. The story was first published in Gaslight Arcanum, and was subsequently collected with Newman's other Moriarty crossover stories in Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles.

In the Masterpiece Theater production of "My Mother and Other Strangers," most of the poem is wonderfully performed in Episode 3.

In the video game VVVVVV, one of the room titles is "Tomb of the Mad Carew."

In her autobiographical book, Moving Mountains, Claire Bertschinger mentions having memorized this poem.

Notes

External links

Category:British poems
Category:1911 poems


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On Wednesday, developer Richard L. Friedman will formally kick off construction of the tallest skyscraper to be built in Boston in 40 years — a 700-foot tower at 1 Dalton St. that will include the city’s second Four Seasons Hotel and some of its most expensive condominiums.

Boston is in the midst of an unprecedented construction boom, but many of the new buildings are unremarkable midrises or boxy office towers — common on so many skylines across the United States.

“This will be the highest quality ever built in the city,” said Friedman, chief executive of Cambridge-based Carpenter & Co.

“It has 11-foot ceilings, a fireplace in every condominium, the best kitchens, the best everything. It’s going to be the top of the market.”

The $750 million project will rise on a triangular plot at the edge of the Christian Science Plaza. Construction is expected to be completed in 2017.

The building’s scale and grandeur symbolize a broader change sweeping through Boston, which has become a premier market for real estate investment worldwide. Friedman’s building is being financed by investors from 26 countries, including a chunk of equity from Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.

“I think people have got to realize that we’re not good old Boston anymore,” said Gregory Vasil, chief executive of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “We are a different place, and that’s reflected in the amount of foreign investment. We’ve got people flocking here from all over the world.”

Friedman said he expects about 30 percent of the condominiums in the skyscraper to be purchased by international buyers.

His company was selected to redevelop the property by the First Church of Christ, Scientist, whose mother church is situated on the adjacent property, along with the church’s signature plaza and reflecting pool.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the project in September 2013.

The 61-story tower will include a 211-room Four Seasons Hotel and 180 luxury condos on the upper floors. On an adjacent site, Pritzker Realty Group, of Chicago, is constructing a 26-story apartment building.

As part of the city’s inclusionary development policy, Friedman has committed to building 29 affordable units off site, though he has not disclosed the location. Pritzker is building 14 affordable units on site, and 14 more at another location.

Friedman’s skyscraper will be a major new peak on the high spine of buildings that runs through the Back Bay to the waterfront.

“This is a signature project in many ways for Boston,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. He said the development would put Boston “in an elite group with only a few other cities around the world.”

Boston will be one of seven cities with two Four Seasons hotels. The others are London, Shanghai, Singapore, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Istanbul.

The skyscraper at One Dalton is being designed by Hancock Tower architect Harry N. Cobb, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, in collaboration with Gary Johnson of Cambridge Seven Associates Inc.

Johnson said the design is meant to add a powerful new form that will stand apart on the city’s skyline.

“This building is going to have the quality the Hancock has where you will always know where you are in the city by looking back to that building,” he said.

The building will feature a curved glass facade and a base of New England granite. A 5,000-square foot park designed by the renowned landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh will sit between the skyscraper and Pritzker’s apartment building.

Each condo in what will be called Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences One Dalton Street will include a bay window, and units on the upper floors will have open-air balconies. The tower will house two public restaurants and two lounges, plus an owners-only restaurant club on the 50th floor.

Related coverage:

• Residential tower to join offices on Boston’s skyline

• Opinion | Paul McMorrow: Adjusting Boston’s High Spine

• 58-story Back Bay tower approved

• Graphic: Existing, proposed skyscrapers in Boston

• Boston embraces the age of the skyscraper

• Before and after: Planned Goverment Center towers

• From 1978: After Scollay Square: Ghosts from the past still linger about new Boston

Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.


Monday, August 24, 1998 Last modified at 12:35 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 1998

Al Fayed now places blame for fatal car crash on his former bodyguards

PARIS (AP) - The billionaire father of Princess Diana's boyfriend now blames his ex-bodyguards for the car crash that killed Diana and his son, Dodi, after insisting for months a conspiracy was behind the crash.

Mohamed Al Fayed said former bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones and Alexander Wingfield were responsible for the midnight crash last August "through their incompetence and unprofessional practices."

"They had rules and they moved away from the rules. They let me down," Al Fayed, owner of Harrod's department store in London and the Ritz Hotel in Paris, was quoted by Time magazine as saying in an interview published Sunday.

It was from the Ritz that Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed left in a chauffeur-driven black Mercedes the night of Aug. 31, shortly before the car crashed into a pillar in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel along the Seine River.

Al Fayed's lawyers say the bodyguards should have insisted on a backup car and should not have allowed driver Henri Paul to take the route he did.

They also say Rees-Jones, the sole survivor of the crash, should have insisted that Diana and Fayed wear a seat belt as he did, according to the Time article.

Investigators have focused been focusing on several factors, including evidence that Paul, who worked for the Ritz, was drunk, driving the Mercedes at a high speed and trying to evade press photographers.

"Mr. Wingfield is saddened that he should choose the buildup to the first anniversary of the crash to make such absurd comments," Waddington added.

According to the Telegraph, both Rees-Jones and Wingfield have insisted they objected to the drive they say Dodi Fayed planned, in part because it lacked a backup car.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that Wingfield, who left the hotel that night in a decoy car, is to take Al Fayed to court next week, claiming he was forced to quit after he refused to back up Al Fayed's conspiracy theory.

In addition, there were indications that Rees-Jones, who has since resigned from his job with Al Fayed, could change his story.

Rees-Jones was expected to meet with investigative Judge Herve Stephan in Paris.

His French lawyer, Christian Curtil, asked Stephan in June to question top Ritz managers about possible security lapses and about how much they knew of Paul's condition.

Six months ago, Rees-Jones said Paul didn't appear drunk the night of the crash.


JW Marriott Hotels

JW Marriott is a hotel chain of Marriott International. It is named after J.W. Marriott, the founder of Marriott Corporation. JW Marriott hotels are in a higher tier than traditional Marriott Hotels, offering more luxurious rooms and amenities. The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of its first hotel in Washington, D.C.

Properties
As of December 31, 2018, there are 84 hotels and resorts with 37,183 rooms open and operating under the brand:

 Azerbaijan
 JW Marriott Absheron Baku
 Bangladesh
 JW Marriott Dhaka (under construction, opening in 2019)
 Brazil
 JW Marriott Rio de Janeiro
 Bolivia
 JW Marriott Santa Cruz de la Sierra (under construction)
 Canada
 JW Marriott Edmonton Ice District
 JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa
 JW Marriott parq Vancouver
 China
 JW Marriott Beijing
 JW Marriott Beijing Central
 JW Marriott Chengdu
 JW Marriott Chongqing
 JW Marriott Hangzhou
 JW Marriott Shanghai at Tomorrow Square
 JW Marriott Shanghai Changfeng Park
 JW Marriott Shenzhen
 JW Marriott Shenzhen Bao'an
 JW Marriott Zhejiang Anji
 JW Marriott Zhengzhou
 Colombia
 JW Marriott Bogota
 Costa Rica
 JW Marriott Guanacaste
 Dominican Republic
 JW Marriott Santo Domingo
 Ecuador
 JW Marriott Quito
 Egypt
 JW Marriott Cairo
 JW Marriott Cairo Mena House
 France
 JW Marriott Cannes
 JW Marriott Resort at Disneyland Paris (under construction; opening 2021-2022)
 Hong Kong
 JW Marriott Hong Kong
 India
 JW Marriott Jaipur
 JW Marriott Bengaluru
 JW Marriott Chandigarh
 JW Marriott Chennai
 JW Marriott Kolkata
 JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
 JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar
 JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa
 JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity
 JW Marriott Pune
 JW Marriott Hyderabad
 JW Marriott Indore
 Indonesia
 JW Marriott Jakarta
 JW Marriott Medan
 JW Marriott Surabaya
 JW Marriott Yogyakarta
 Italy
 JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa
 Kuwait
 JW Marriott Kuwait City
 Kenya
 JW Marriott Nairobi (under construction, opening in 2020)
 Libya
 JW Marriott Tripoli
 Malaysia
 JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur
 Macau
 JW Marriott Macau
 Mexico
 JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa
 JW Marriott Los Cabos
 JW Marriott Mexico City
 JW Marriott Mexico City Santa Fe
 Nepal
 JW Marriott Kathmandu
 Panama
 JW Marriott Panama Golf & Beach Resort
 JW Marriott Panama - Punta Pacifica, Panamá city.
 Peru
 JW Marriott Cusco El Convento
 JW Marriott Lima
 Qatar
 JW Marriott Marquis Doha
 Romania
 JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Singapore
JW Marriott Singapore South Beach Hotel
 South Korea
 JW Marriot Seoul Seocho-gu
 JW Marriot Seoul Dongdaemun Square, Dongdaemun
 Turkey
 JW Marriott Ankara
 Thailand
 JW Marriott Bangkok
 JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa
 JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa
 United Arab Emirates
 JW Marriott Dubai
 JW Marriott Dubai Marquis Hotel
 United States
 JW Marriott Anaheim Resort (opening 2020)
 JW Marriott Atlanta Buckhead
 JW Marriott Austin
 JW Marriott Charlotte (opening 2021)
 JW Marriott Chicago
 JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek
 JW Marriott Grand Rapids
 JW Marriott Houston
 JW Marriott Downtown Houston
 JW Marriott Indianapolis
 JW Marriott Las Vegas
 JW Marriott at The Drew Las Vegas (under construction, opening 2022)
 JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live
 JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America (Bloomington, MN)
 JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort
 JW Marriott Miami
 JW Marriott Marquis Miami
 JW Marriott Nashville
 JW Marriott New Orleans
 JW Marriott New York Essex House
 JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes
 JW Marriott Orlando,
Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa   (opening 2020)
 JW Marriott Palm Springs Desert Springs
 JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge
 JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa
 JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square
 JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot
 JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn
 JW Marriott Tampa Water Street
 JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass
 JW Marriott Washington DC
 United Kingdom
JW Marriott London Grosvenor House
 Venezuela
 JW Marriott Caracas
 Vietnam
 JW Marriott Hà Nội
 JW Marriott Phú Quốc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa

Incidents

2003 Jakarta hotel bombing

On August 5, 2003, the JW Marriott Jakarta was the site of a massive terrorist car bombing. The bomb exploded in a car in the hotel's entrance directly off the lobby, destroying the entryway, sending marble panels off the lobby walls (along with the near-annihilation of the lobby), and knocking off a large amount of glass panes on the exterior. Several guests inside their hotel rooms mentioned that the force of the blast knocked them over as a result of the entire building shaking. One guest also said that his window imploded into his bedroom and the force of the blast sent him flying from one end of his room to the other. Casualties included the deaths of several guards, as well as many guest injuries. The hotel put together a strong reconstruction team and successfully reopened with full-facilities before year-end.

2008 Islamabad hotel bombing

2009 Jakarta hotel bombing

On Friday 17 July 2009 at 07.45 a.m Jakarta time, a bomb exploded in the Jakarta JW Marriott hotel, destroying the first floor of the hotel. The explosion occurred 5 minutes after an explosion at the nearby Jakarta Ritz-Carlton.  Latest reports indicate that 9 people died and 14 were injured in the explosions, with 6 of the dead from this Marriott hotel, 2 from the Ritz Carlton, while 1 died in the hospital.

Gallery

References

External links

Category:Marriott International brands
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Tasty Traditions – You’ve Gotta Eat After Moving to London

How to Nom Like a Brit!

Eating Out in London

I think one of the things I struggled with (and most people struggle with) when moving to London was adapting to day to day living. Which is obvious I guess. But when you move, you try to push that concern to one side so that your enthusiasm for the big move isn’t dampened by your anxiety for how it could fail.

I think what really helps to ease the transition is discovering what it is that you like about your new home. It really isn’t that hard (unless you’re determined not to find anything you’ll like). I’m not saying that I’m a fully fledged Anglophile just yet, but putting emphasis on what you enjoy about living in London can certainly help in adjusting to staying here.

Off the top of my head, my personal list of favourite things about staying in London probably amount to all the clichés that I’ve discovered are truisms. I mean the kind of things you read about books or see in movies and then come over here and you discover that it’s just the way you pictured it in your head. Like bangers and mash.

Bangers and Mash – Stay at Home Noms

It really does sound like the simplest meal ever, doesn’t it? And it is. It really is. But it’s also super tasty. And when you combine ‘simple cooking’ with ‘super tasty’ you get what is officially the top recipe on The Lazy Person’s List of cooking. That’s me! Honestly, it really doesn’t get much better than this. Get some bangers (sausages if you’re new to this English thing), potatoes, baked beans (you could try gravy if you wanted but I did say this was for lazy people) and bread. Fry up the sausages, mash the potatoes and cook them, put the baked beans into a pot, get them hot, toast the bread. Now, arguably speaking, that’s more of sentence than it is a recipe. But, like I said, simple and tasty.

And if you’re the lazy sort of person and if it’s been a particularly trying day at the office, you could do far worse than stopping at your local Tesco’s on your way home from work, picking up the necessary ingredients and heading home for some of the best comfort food on the planet.

Cream Tea – Posh Noms

Afternoon Tea in London

While on the topic of ‘things you may not have tried but absolutely have to’ after moving to London,I thought I’d discuss that most English of things: Tea and Scones. Specifically, Tea and Scones, and where you’re should go for the best in London. If you want to show off that you know a bit, call it a Devonshire Tea instead of just Tea and Scones (Or Cornish Tea).

Cream Tea is another common name for this popular practice. Tea and Scones is the kind of thing that’s become so ingrained in the British culture that you could go to any tea room across Britain and be offered a proper English Tea with Scones. It’s also popular outside of Great Britain and you could go as far as South Africa and be able to be served a Cream Tea.

Here then, the best places in London to get a proper Cream Tea

The Ritz – First of all, we’re talking about one of the oldest and most recognized hotels in the world. The Ritz isn’t so much a hotel as it is an institution. And much the same could be said of their Tea’s, with five sittings a day, from 11h30 to 7h30.

The English Tea Room, Brown’s Hotel – None more English a Tea Room than this, this place comes with specially wood panelled rooms and a pianist offering some music, all for that classic, olde worlde feel (sorry, they’ve done the same at the Ritz. Pianists really do add to that high tea feel, I guess). When you ask for your tea and scones, it’s brought to you fresh and warm.

The Mandeville Hotel – This place about as traditional as they come. How traditional? When they serve the tea, it’s brought in blue china cups for the men and pink floral cups for the women. That’s how traditional, and yet The Mandeville offers something a little extra as well: The Reform Social Grill at the Mandeville offers the Great British Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea which comes complete with a seasonal Bellini – and if you don’t think that tea goes well with a glass or two of Prosecco – well, you haven’t lived yet! Personally, I like to call this Tea with a Twist…

The Savoy – Much like the Ritz, the Savoy is another London hotel that’s pretty much an institution. Again like the Ritz, you’ll have someone tinkling the ivories just to give the setting some ambience.

And lastly, because I have a major sweet-tooth, go to The Metropolitan. All the other places I’ve mentioned have a fine selection of cakes and savoury treats but I saw picture of what the Metropolitan had to offer and that was enough for me to call ahead and make a booking.

Of course, I’d in no way seek to influence your choice for a stunning afternoon tea in London… Check out Afternoon Tea. It’s a great way to find a top tea venue in your new neighbourhood.


Autumn Phillips

Autumn Patricia Phillips (née Kelly, 3 May 1978) is the wife of Peter Phillips, who is the son of Princess Anne and the oldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. After graduating from McGill University in 2002, Autumn Kelly met Peter Phillips in her birthplace and hometown of Montreal, Quebec. Their engagement was announced in July 2007, and they married in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, on 17 May 2008. They live in Gloucestershire and have two daughters, Savannah and Isla.

Early life
Autumn, her twin brother Christopher "Chris", and her older brother Kevin, were born in Montreal, Quebec, to Kathleen "Kitty" (née McCarthy) and Brian Kelly, an electricity company executive. She was baptised on 18 June 1978, at Saint John Fisher Parish Church, and raised in Cedar Park, Pointe-Claire, in the English-speaking West Island region of Montreal. Her parents divorced when Autumn was eight years old, after which her mother married commercial pilot Ron Magas, and her father married Lynne, with whom he has two children, Jessica and Patrick.

Autumn's family continued to live in the Pointe-Claire area, where she attended a Roman Catholic primary school, and then St. Thomas High School, a Roman Catholic foundation. It was reported in 2007 that St Thomas' was where Autumn had both excelled at sports and had also studied alongside fellow student and friend, actress Casey McKinnon. Autumn then attended McGill University, during which time she worked as a bartender, model, and actress, appearing in the 1996 film Rainbow, taking the non-speaking, though credited, role of Tigrette Number 3, and later in the television series Sirens. Autumn graduated from McGill in 2002, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies, whereupon she started a career as a management consultant.

Marriage to Peter Phillips
Autumn attended the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix where, while interviewing with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, she met Peter Phillips, who was, at the time, working for Williams F1. She did not know until six weeks later, when she saw him on television, that he was Queen Elizabeth II's grandson. She then moved to the United Kingdom, living with Phillips in a Kensington, London, apartment and a cottage on the Gatcombe Park estate. Before meeting Phillips, she had accepted a job with an American computer firm in England, and later worked as a personal assistant to broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson, while also attending royal events, such as the dinner party at the Ritz Hotel for the Queen's 80th birthday.

Autumn's engagement to Peter Phillips was announced by Buckingham Palace on 28 July 2007, and the Queen subsequently gave her consent to the union, as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772, after a meeting of her British Privy Council on 9 April of the following year. Phillips proposed to his wife with "a platinum ring containing an oval center diamond with more diamonds on either side". Prior to the marriage, Autumn, raised Roman Catholic, was received into the Church of England (Anglican), which does not re-confirm people who were raised in churches acknowledging the Apostolic succession. Had she remained Catholic after her marriage, under the provisions of the Act of Settlement 1701 her husband would have lost his place in the line of succession to the throne. That fact drew attention to the Act of Settlement's bar on Catholics ascending to the throne, and prompted calls in both Canada and the United Kingdom for the respective prime ministers to consider the issue. She did not, however, give up her Canadian citizenship. Some reported unease was also caused in royal circles when Autumn and Phillips were interviewed and photographed by Hello! magazine, for an apparent fee of £500,000.

The couple married on 17 May 2008, at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, with 300 guests in attendance. The service conducted by David Conner, Dean of Windsor, and Autumn's dress designed by Sassi Holford. For the occasion, the Princess Royal lent Kelly the Festoon Tiara which she had received as a gift in 1973 in Hong Kong, and Kelly wore a necklace and earrings from her husband. Her six bridesmaids included Zara Phillips, her husband's sister. The couple had a carriage procession before going to Frogmore House for a reception. In 2010, they returned to London after living in Hong Kong, where Peter Phillips had a job with the Royal Bank of Scotland, heading its sports sponsorship activities in the region.

In February 2020, Autumn and Peter Phillips confirmed that they had been separated since 2019, and that they intended to divorce. In the public statement, it was said that both Autumn and Peter Phillips remain in Gloucestershire to raise their children. The divorce will be the first one in the royal family in a decade, and the first time a grandchild of Queen Elizabeth gets a divorce.

Children
Their first child, and the Queen's first great-grandchild, Savannah, was born on 29 December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. With dual citizenship, the child is the first Canadian citizen to be in the line of succession to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms. She is 16th in line to the throne. On Saturday, 23 April 2011, the baptism of Savannah took place at the Church of the Holy Cross, Avening, Gloucestershire, near the Princess Royal's home, Gatcombe Park.

The couple announced in October 2011 that they were expecting their second child. On 29 March 2012, at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Autumn gave birth to another girl, Isla Elizabeth, who is 17th in line to the throne. On Sunday, 1 July 2012, the baptism of Isla took place at St Nicholas's Church, Cherington, Gloucestershire.

References

External links

Category:1978 births
Category:Living people
Category:Anglophone Quebec people
Category:Canadian Anglicans
Category:Canadian expatriates in Hong Kong
Category:Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Category:Canadian people of Irish descent
Category:McGill University alumni
Category:Actresses from Montreal
Category:Twin people from Canada
Category:Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Category:Canadian film actresses
Category:Canadian television actresses
Category:Canadian socialites
Category:20th-century Canadian actresses
Category:21st-century Canadian actresses


Hotels must catch-up with the personalised economy but keep the human touch

Hotels 2020

Hotels 2020: welcoming tomorrow's guests

The hotel industry has lagged behind other sectors in adopting technology to meet customer led demand, according to a new report from Grant Thornton. As a result, hotels must now put mobile technology at the centre of their customer experience as they race to catch up and compete in the ‘sharing economy’, where services such as AirBnB are challenging the traditional business model. However, the report cautions against de-humanising the hotel experience, stressing that the most successful companies will be those that master the balance between using technology to respond to customer preferences and keeping the personal touch.

Launched at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin today (2nd March), the report, Hotels 2020: Welcoming Tomorrow’s Guests highlights the changing nature of hotels and their guests. This is in part due to the increasing spending power of millennials, digital natives looking for local, authentic experiences when travelling. This demographic group are set to outspend baby boomers in hotels by 2017 and expect increasingly tailored services, such as mobile room customisation and special in-app offers. With the number of Chinese tourists alone expected to double to over 200 million by 2020, rising numbers of travellers from emerging markets mean hotels need to change their services to cater for new needs and preferences.

Gillian Saunders, Global Leader for Hospitality and Tourism at Grant Thornton, comments: “Hotels need to work to understand their guests’ requirements, making the most of big data to analyse and establish where personalisation through better use of mobile can really add value. It’s all about striking the right balance between apps and technology, as well as human interaction, which is still hugely valued. Get it wrong and you risk alienating your customers. Get it right and you can reap the rewards.

“The battle for tech talent with other industries is fierce, and the sector will need to think creatively and work with external strategic partners to get it right. This could include technology providers, app developers and existing services such as Uber, as well as local hosts adopting the home-from-home aspect of the sharing economy. With millennials and tourists from emerging economies set to dominate future reservations, tomorrow’s guests will expect tailored services that break down language and cultural barriers, whilst still offering an authentic, personal touch that gives travellers the unique experience they value.”

The report points out that the hotel industry has been lagging behind other industries when it comes to mobile personalisation; from retailers and personal finance providers to travel companies and restaurants, mobile technology – and especially apps – are being developed at a rate of knots to provide accessible, customised customer services. The report urges hotels to consider apps that personalise elements of the entire guest experience, going beyond the simple logistical processes of room booking and check-in to allowing guests to truly tailor their stay through their smartphone.

Gillian Saunders says: “With the rise of digital enterprises like AirBnB, TaskRabbit and Lyft demonstrating the power of the sharing economy, it would be tempting for hotels to simply follow the ‘there’s an app for that’ mantra and just push out mobile technology that adds little value to the customer experience or subsumes it. Hotels must take their efforts further. Developed carefully, with a real understanding of what the consumer wants, technology can go a long way to build unique customer experiences that meet today’s demands. From ensuring the minibar is stocked with a guest’s favourite drink to providing details of local restaurants via their smartphone, hotels must retain the personal touch that keeps consumers coming back.”

Some hotel chains are already using technology well to personalise the guest experience. For example, during the London 2012 Olympics, Holiday Inn partnered with Samsung to enable guests to control their rooms’ TV, air conditioning and lighting with their smartphones. Hilton Worldwide are developing a mobile check-in and checkout service, and the Ritz-Carlton app, launched last year, provides concierge services including booking reservations, local city guides and special offers.

However, with recent privacy concerns around the amount of data shared through cloud platforms and mobile devices, the report warns that hotels must be mindful of how much data is likely to be shared by guests, and therefore work closely with consumers to ensure that personalisation is introduced at a level that is comfortable and achievable for both parties.

Gillian Saunders concludes: “Hotels must act now to differentiate themselves. They must make a reality of mass personalisation - whilst keeping the human touch - to surprise and delight guests.”