Michael Winner might be used to eating out more than once in a day, but it was a thrilling novelty for me this week when I was invited to a lunch in Bath and dinner in London within hours of each other.
Like Mr Winner, I’m made of stern stuff, and I’ll do almost anything for a lovely meal, so it was with great anticipation that I made my way to the prestigious Von Essen Homewood Park Hotel, where I was to be the guest of Continental Airlines and JTA, represented respectively by Debbie Cant and Jason Nangle.
We started with a tour of this beautiful country house hotel.
A thorough refurbishment means guests can enjoy beautiful, contemporary interiors with a touch of English elegance in one of 19 luxurious rooms overlooking the gardens. I didn’t get to Chelsea this year, but seeing this spectacular garden in mid-June more than gave me my floral fix.
Hats off to Shirley, from Bristol airport, who managed to do the tour in a fabulous pair of four-inch Karen Millen heels; it just goes to prove that Homewood Park is high-heel friendly – and boy, is that a selling point when you’ve sold the family silver to pay for your must-have Jimmy Choos!
We took lunch in the airy dining room with its high ceilings and tall windows. I half expected to see characters from Merchant Ivory films in there as it really is a Room With a View.
The meal, created by award-winning chef Daniel Moon, matched the high expectations generated by the environment. Dan wooed his girlfriend, Homewood’s operations assistant, Sarah Binding, with his culinary magic, but she tells me that at home, it’s down to her to cook.
“I do a mean sausage casserole – not quite the same league!” she said.
“I guess there’s no point running after the bus once you’ve caught it,” I replied.
The ingredients used in the hotel kitchen are all sourced locally, and I asked Sarah if she sourced her sausages locally, too.
“Yes, I buy them locally. At Tesco.”
I sat beside Jason Nangle and asked how he was. A calamitous story unfolded, featuring Jason slipping down a drain hole while playing football on a council-owned pitch. He is waiting to see if the council will admit liability, before booking himself into a private hospital to rectify the damage.
Injury aside, Jason has been enjoying an extra-curricular venture in fake tanning. Turns out he’s a Fake Bake practitioner, having learnt all he knows from his girlfriend, Sam. That very evening, he was scheduled to ‘tan’ Cadogan’s Danny Joel, Danny’s friend and his mum.
After the lunch, Jason and Debbie talked about the new deals offered by JTA, and the website available to book Continental flights, and then it was time for me to fly.
A shining example
A dash to Bath Spa station (I don’t have Michael Winner’s chopper at my disposal) and I was on to the train to London to attend the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Ball as a guest of the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Office, with Andrew Hillier and Chloe Handy.
It was a glittering affair, which started with champagne. A steel band conjured a Caribbean atmosphere, while the guests mingled before sitting down to dinner.
Our table was a mix of travel agents and press, though the two journalists from The Sun rudely failed to materialise.
It was hard not to notice Andrew’s black eye, and harder still not to comment on it. He told me that, on a recent fam trip to Trinidad and Tobago, he’d organised a competition to see who could do the sexiest chair dance.
Demonstrating a few moves of his own, a slight misjudgement meant he hit the deck with force and bashed his eye. In typical fashion, the agents looked on in fits of laughter.
After a fabulous Caribbean themed meal, the dancing (without chairs) began in earnest. Of course, by this time, my shoes, which had trotted around Homewood Park, then carried me at speed onto the train, across London and into the Dorchester, were killing me, and I had to give in. I sat and watched as guests danced into the night.
I’m guessing Michael Winner does much the same.
A wonderful evening was had by all and it seems some agents never stop working. Gabi, of Rendezvous Travel, got chatting to a doorman who mentioned that he was thinking of holidaying in Jamaica. In a flash, she had his details and has already sent him a selection of quotes. That’s what I call a pro at work!
CTO Ball photos
See more in Travel Weekly’s CTO Ball photo gallery…
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels in Gillingham, Dorset
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