MAUREEN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY’S FAVOURITE COLUMNIST
Hooray for Horseguards
The nice girls may love a
sailor, but the naughty ones
are partial to a guardsman,
take it from me. Of course, I
speak purely from observation,
following a wonderful evening as
a guest at the recent relaunch of the
fi ve-star historic Royal Horseguards
Hotel, hosted by the new owner,
Guoman Hotels.
The refurbishment of this
fabulous listed building has been
immaculately executed and the
owners have been thoughtful in
recognising its historic past and
its links to the neighbouring
Household Cavalry.
At the gala dinner it was
announced that Guoman Hotels
would be making a signifi cant
fi ve-fi gure donation to Help for
Heroes and The Household Cavalry
Charitable Fund at the beginning
of what will be a year-long
commitment to both charities. In
attendance to hear the news and to
enjoy the sumptuous surroundings
were members of the Blues and
Royals and the Life Guards,
resplendent in their dress
uniforms. And I mean resplendent.
Not one among them needed a bit
of spit on a hankie to polish up a
button or a shoe, which left me
wondering how else I could make
myself indispensable to them.
To say I was awestruck by the
company is to understate things.
Not only were there handsome,
uniformed men everywhere I
looked, but the Duke of Wellington
was also present along with
celebrities from the worlds of
media and showbiz. I grabbed
hold of TV chef Gary Rhodes who,
unlike the offi cers, didn’t have the
SAS-style training required to get
away from me, and coerced him
I grabbed hold of TV chef Gary Rhodes and
coerced him into having a photo taken standing
next to me. “Thanks for being my side dish,”
I called cheerily
www.travelweekly.co.uk
into having a photo taken
standing next to me. “Thanks
for being my side dish,” I
called cheerily as he raced off
for dear life.
Next on my hit list were
three soldiers from the
Parachute Regiment, proudly
sporting their red berets. I was
only too happy when one of them
asked if I’d like to hold his rifl e, and
another photo opportunity was
seized with both hands.
At dinner I sat between Michael
Parker, general manager of the
Thistle Hotel, Marble Arch and
David Thompson of the Guild of
Registered Tour Guides, who made
for lively company. The food was
excellent and quite took our minds
off the fact that nobody around
our table had managed to win a
prize in the draw. Which is saying
something as the prizes were pretty
spectacular and included a trip to
India, cases of fi ne wine and a tour
of the Royal Horseguards barracks.
Well, what hot-blooded woman
wouldn’t want to win the latter?
After dinner, guests chatted in
the bar before retiring to their
rooms. My room was beautiful.
From its balcony I could look
across London and watch the lights
twinkling on the Thames.
The hotel has all the extras
you could want, including an iPod
dock, plasma TV, mini-bar and my
favourite…the hairdryer, cleverly
hidden in the lift-up vanity section
of the desk. I was shown to my
room by Deana from customer
relations, who even advised me on
which dress to wear; the fi rst time
I’ve come across an in-house
personal stylist.
All in all, it was a wonderfully
memorable evening and quite
humbling to be in the company
of brave servicemen.
In the offi ce, JTA’s Jason Nagel
called in, having returned from
Hong Kong where he had escorted
an educational hosted by Emirates.
He tells us he is offi cially in love
with the city and that he’s
discovered a talent for haggling.
Dare I tell his girlfriend Sam that
the Gucci bag he brought back for
her actually cost £6?
Jason had come in to tell us of
JTA’s new airline contracts with TAP
Aero Mexico, Korean Air, Kingfi sher,
Air China and TAM the Brazilian
airline. Quick as a fl ash, Penny
asked if passengers would be
offered an in-fl ight waxing on the
latter? Jason blushed and tried to
push on with his presentation.
When we asked if he had his own
souvenir of Hong Kong, Jason rolled
up his shirt sleeve and pointed at a
swelling on his elbow.
“That,” he said. “It cost nothing
and I think I got it playing indoor
football. I’m a goalie.”
“Like Peter Schmeichel?”
asked Natalie.
“No, more like Peter Kay,”
came the reply.
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels,
Gillingham, Dorset
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March 6 2009 | Travel Weekly | 41
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