Mondrian London
May 25, 2018
Another year, another trip to the Mondrian London to preside over a conference. This year we were assigned 457 which is a beautiful room.
The bathroom and shower are just fantastic.

Walk in marble and glass shower with a stool and multiple shower heads. Yes please!

welcome notes galore
We’re here for the view.
An early arrival was super smooth. Room ready. Staff helpful. Operations is markedly improved since last year.
Lunch at Northbank across the millenial bridge is recommended.
As is a visit to the Tate Modern.

kandinsky at the Tate
One of the highlights of the Mondrian is the fact that Dandelyan bar is on the premesis. (On the other hand, the Rumpus Room is to be skipped at all cost.)
Marcus restaurant is super fantastic.
This year we called our cocktail extravaganza
#boaredintheusa. More here.
Five showerheads and perfect weather for the Mondrian London.
Mondrian in London One Year Later
May 8, 2017
We were here just over a year ago running the very same small conference that we’re running this time. Well, actually more like presiding; other people do all of the actual running. Anyway, the Mondrian is still very nice.
We’re in the same room category as last year but up one level in 571. And we’ve already been in Europe for a week, so the obligatory Tate Modern visit is documented here (as is our stay at the Zetter), there is no jet lag to contend with, and we’ve even been to Scotland. Heck, we even went out to the American Bar for cocktails!
All that was left was to taxi across the Thames and check in at noon.
An absurdity happened then. Even though the massive NPS support staff had set things up so that our room would be available at noon (and we arrived at 12:30) the room was “not quite ready.” What? I’m pretty sure we even ended up paying for an extra night just to avoid this. Sorry, Mondrian, please get organized and give us our money back for the extra night! The delay was not long (only 12 minutes), but that’s not really the point.
Does it make NPS happy to sit in the lobby waiting? Nope. Not one little bit.
Here is what 571 looks like. We’ll start with the balcony view on a cold, blustery London afternoon. The temperature has dropped 10 degrees Fahrenheit since yesterday.
The balcony is nice. NPS bets the higher rooms with balconies are even better.
The room is spacious and huge with an outstanding bathroom. No sign of plastic.

Dining nook

Sleeping nook

Working nook

Sitting nook
Having an amenity at greeting was nice. But get this Mondrian peeps, guests have actual names! Wow! You should use them.

Why thank you guest experience team driod from the bottom of our customer id unknown heart.

Amenity
We had to order 4 bottles of sparking water to make us through the week. The Kimpton guys mostly have this figured out. Perhaps the NPS computer record was corrupted since last year?
But you’re reading this for the showers, right? Right!
First, a minor diversion.

Extra bathroom
And now for the main show. The incredible 571 bathroom.

Tub and “water closet closet”

What a shower

Yes please
We’re looking forward to week two in the UK. More here as things develop.
DANDELYAN here we come.
What should get a five showerheads rating (on shower karma alone) reduced to four showerheads for poor guest happiness management skills.
The Zetter Townhouse is our favorite boutique hotel in London. We’ve been many times. One last night in London before flying home in the very swanky upper class on Virgin Atlantic rounded out the twenty day trip.
Room eleven got a workout this time when the bathtub was actually used!
But by far the most fun was hanging out by the cat in the bar until all hours. Much fun was had.
Five showerheads and a long recovery over the ocean for the Zetter Townhouse and it’s fine bar.
The Mondrian London: Excellence in Showers by the Thames
April 10, 2016

Mondrian London Lobby

An actual Mondrian at the Tate Modern
Regular readers will know that NPS loves to stay at the Zetter and the Zetter Townhouse while in London. But sadly, the group conference we are hosting this week outgrew the Zetter some time ago. The great news is that the Mondrian London is a fantastic place to stay.
Located on the banks of the Thames just a hop skip and jump from the Tate Modern, the Mondrian London is modern, chic, and packed with high style. It is part of the Morgans hotel group (which includes the Morgan in NYC).
NPS is assigned room 463—a nice little suite with a balcony overlooking the muddy river. London graces the far side of course.

View from 463

River view from 463

A little table on the balcony

The other half of the balcony
463 has plenty of room to work, to entertain, and to sleep (assuming any of the latter actually happens this week).

Couch in 463

463 sitting area

463 desk
There are two bathrooms in 463, one proper marble palace and the other a powder room for when guests drop by. The shower is fantastic with multiple shower heads and tons of room with nary a bit of plastic in sight.

Wait for it

Fantastic shower
The rest of the property is likewise stylish. Rumor has it that the bars are great too. More about that soon enough!

Yellow submarine
The challenge with hopping the pond in the direction of London is staying up once you arrive. Whiling away some time at the Tate Modern is a common NPS strategy.
Here are some pictures from today’s excursion.

View from the 6th floor cafe of the Tate

Machine

Tower of babel

Valentine (for Ivan Arce)
A visit to Dandelyan for a quick bite before a movie was very satisfactory indeed. Dandelyan won COTC’s best new international bar last year. It is clear why. Attention to detail and interesting cocktails to be found. Get the lamb meatballs and the pork buns!

Dandelyan visit with Aiden, Alex and Jack behind the bar
The cocktail list is extensive and interesting, though the use of “refactored” standard drink names is a bit misleading. For example, a quick paw through the menu had me skip right over the Fairchild’s Mule (because it said Mule) and the BDC Negroni as well. That would have been a mistake. When I ordered a “gussied up French 75” Aiden suggested the mule. He was right.
Fairchild’s Mule
40 ml cardamom infused hendrick’s gin [10g cardamom per 700ml hendricks]
2.5 ml clove cordial [could sub in allspice dram for this British treat]
2.5 ml ginger distillate [cantons might work too, but if so drop the syrup]
5 ml simple syrup
12.5 ml lime juice
shake and double strain.
add 20 ml champagne and 20 ml fever tree ginger ale

Porter’s gin by Alex Lawrence
Barman Alex Lawrence has created Porter’s gin, which is on the aromatic side of the scale towards Hendricks. Alex uses Leopold’s method (without really knowing what that is). He made me a London Calling with his product:
50 ml porter’s gin
15 ml fino sherry
20 ml lemon juice
10 ml simple syrup
2 dashes of Regan’s 6 orange bitters
stir down, serve up. garnish with grapefruit zest

Working at Dandelyan (Gin and Arrack with a house Negroni chaser)
The fact that Dandelyon is associated with the Mondrian is an excellent happenstance indeed. But why does is close so early (M 1:26, T 1:17, W 1:09)?
And the Mondrian has a private movie theater, the Curzon, too. Saw Victoria which helped me meet the staying up on day one goal.
Dinner at Texture was absolutely outstanding. Fish tasting menu was delicious and the wine list was fun to work with. Yet another Michelin star with Jacob!
Five showerheads and high expectations for a super week in London. This entry will be updated as the week progresses.
NPS is briefly in London again, staying at the Zetter Townhouse. As it always goes on international travel days from the States, we showed up way early for check in. Way way early.
Never fear! Though the Zetter Townhouse was filled to the gills, the kind general manager Fabian Sanchis at the Zetter found us a room to crash in. So incredibly cool. Thanks Fabian.
It really is nice to be recognized when you arrive at a hotel.
Room 102 is a tiny little high style room with two important features: a bed and a shower. After a long, fitful pod ride on Virgin Atlantic, the bed was most welcome. Yes, a nap was had. We must be getting old.
So how does Virgin Atlantic Upper Class stack up against United BusinessFirst? Though it pains us to say this, things are pretty much about the same with an edge to United. Food? Airplane bad. Typical blitzkrieged steak. Well, maybe it started as steak?! Cheese? Good (the same). Wine? Decent (the same). Pod? Nowhere near as comfortable on Virgin Atlantic. The pod design does make for a flatter bed that is a bit flatter and more padded though not as wide, but in order to transform to bed mode, you have to get out of the seat and recombobulate everything. And seat mode lacks a left armrest, has an uncomfortable tilt mode, and is pretty cramped. In the age of sophisticated transformer toy design, there is really no reason for that.
Breakfast is better on Virgin Atlantic for sure, and the crew is much friendlier and seems more professional. So all in all it’s a surprise major toss up between United and Virgin Atlantic.
International travel beats domestic hands down for sure, but rumors that the Virgin Atlantic experience is something astounding turn out to have been greatly exaggerated. Mostly that’s because the United international experience in business class is actually (still) very reasonable.
Pile on the fact that Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America don’t really have a seamlessly integrated frequent flyer system, and you have a problem if you travel internationally very often. That is, you can’t use your status or points on Virgin America to upgrade on Virgin Atlantic (though you can book an award trip in Upper Class). That sucks.
Live and learn.
Anyhoo, back to room 102 and awesomeness at the Zetter.
So now we’re rested, showered, and up, and the sun is temporarily out, and life seems almost close to normal. Just in time for a (admittedly very early) business dinner at the Chiltern Firehouse.
Five showerheads and a big thank you to the Zetter and to Fabian.
Why United is Just Awful
October 5, 2014
Only since the ill-fated merger have I flown economy class to/from Europe because of no upgrade. That is just awful. You would think that after 1,578,471 miles (which I paid for) United would have some loyalty to me. But they don’t.
Ten years of 100K status drops fast. Be forewarned United flyers. Your airline does not care about you at all.
This last trip to London/Helsinki was no exception. Business class on the way there (which we paid to upgrade at purchase) but no upgrade from economy on the way back. 8.5 hours in an awful seat with terrible food.
First world problem, I know. But frankly I expect more from an airline that used to earn my business.
United has gone to the dogs.