4 days in London - Trip 'non-report'
 

I did another lightning visit to London at the end of January. Probably won't do a full on Trip Report because I didn't really break any new ground but did have some great food -- one spectacular meal in particular, and saw Pirates of Penzance at the ENO (which the King apparently snuck in to see this past week). Plus one crazy way to run an airline!

This all started because I wanted to see The Producers at the Menier Chocolate Factory which is on a limited run and received amazing reviews in all the national papers. So on New Year's Day I booked flights arriving late afternoon Jan 23 and flying out early Monday Jan. 27, only to find out the theatre was dark one night of my stay and in the 2 hours it took me to work out the transport all other seats had sold out! :( What to do -- I could cancel with no penalty or go ahead. Burns Night was the Saturday and there are always fun events around that, plus a special lecture at the Imperial War Museum and Pirates so why the heck not.

• Transport:

When first searching flights SMF > LHR in Business it was absolutely INSANE. They wanted just north of $12,000! And not even a decent schedule -- either really early flights or really long layovers or BA and paying for seat selection, or all three. Then looked at AAVacations like in the past. Better flights and 3 nights in an upscale hotel (the Savoy, Goring etc.) brought it down to the vicinity of $10,000. Uh - no. So I bit the bullet and decided to go for Premium Economy 😢 (I've been soooooooo spoiled) and got good flights all on AA metal and not having to deal with BA + 3 nights at the Conrad St James's (not a hovel for sure) for just a touch over $3000.

Flights SMF > LAX > LHR LHR > DFW > SMF were all at civilized hours - except for LHR>DFW which was at 08:20 but staying the last night at LHR solved that issue and was a LOT cheaper than a 4th night in town.

Now the kicker . . . When boarding at LAX it there were very few passengers -- I haven't been on such an empty flight since Covid hit. I was starting to settle in to my decent PE seat - a 2 / 4 / 2 configuration - I was on the aisle in the middle section and except for a young couple across the aisle, the whole row was empty. We started chatting and they mentioned in passing that they had got an upgrade offer in the app and it was only $400 pp and reluctantly had turned it down. I double checked -- no offers for me. I went to the purser and asked if it would be possible to do a paid upgrade (I was in Group 2 so the plane had barely started boarding). He called and one of the gate agents came on boards and took my boarding pass and and credit card and said she'd see what could be done. Voila! She comes back with a shiny new boarding pass for a window seat in Business and the upcharge was $410. To show how empty the plane was -- as I was starting to move my stuff up front a flight attendant had spilled a glass of champagne on my new seat and there were enough empty seats that they were able to move me to another window seat farther forward.

OKAY - what I don't get . . . They were trying to charge $12,000, the plane was half empty, I paid less that a quarter that (when factoring in the hotel) and was able to up grade for a measly $400. Wouldn't it have made more sense to charge a more reasonable amount up front and fill the plane?? Of course the upgrade was only for the one flight and I was still in Premium Economy coming home - but being a daytime flight not having flat beds isn't a big deal.

• Food:

Other than on my transatlantic flight(which I guess was $400 for dinner/breakfast ;)) and was quite good - salad, beef filet, Potatoes Anna, brussels sprouts, ice ream sundae, champagne and red wine plus a fruit plate the next day . . . I had a few scrumptious meals and an extraordinary lunch a HIDE

Dinner Thursday: Not arriving at LHR until 4PM on Thursday I decided to eat dinner at the Conrad's in-house restaurant The Pem. I'd actually never heard of it before but it was really good. I had booked for 8PM so if I was wiped out (Premium Economy and all ;) ) I could have some down time pre-dinner and if I felt OK I could walk through the park or something. The room is quite nice and the tables aren't crammed together. There was an amuse bouche (which I know was yummy but I can't for the life of me recall what it was). The starter was a wonderful scallop with cauliflower puree, mushroom, white balsamic, and crispy chicken skin and for a main course I had venison loin with pumpkin, fresh chestnuts and elderberry sauce. The venison was a bit 'chewier' than it maybe should have been but the dish was still really good. Dessert was a roasted Pear with walnut, praline, pear vinegar and butterscotch. Glass of Champagne and one glass of wine all in came to £96 inculding service

Lunch Friday: My main meal/big (BIG BIG) splurge of the whole trip was Friday lunch -- I have been trying to get into HIDE for several years and was able to get a 2:15 booking. OMG -- what a wonderful meal. But also perhaps the single most expensive meal I've ever had (where I had to pay myself ;) ) The room upstairs is really lovely with floor to ceiling windows looking out across Green Park. The wooden tables each have a hidden drawer with power, phone chargers, adapter plugs etc. They don't tell you about the equipment - its just there and the servers being top notch would realize when someone needed the help. Service was perfect - friendly but not 'chatty' and extremely efficient. Perhaps the only better service I've ever had was years ago at Gordon Ramsay Hospital Road. I'll list all the prices since this is DEFINITELY not an every day sort of place.

Amuse bouche -- free :) there were 3 teensy bites but I didn't record what they were
Starter -- Probably one of the two best dishes I've ever tasted. Being the starter it was small -- I could have eaten a gallon of it LOL. A bbq'd Orkney Scallop with rhubarb vinegar, rhubarb oil, Jerusalem artichoke puree, marigold oil and topped with Jerusalem artichoke granola. Sounds pretty weird but it was absolutely sublime. (Should have been at £36!)
Main -- Squab glazed with honey and spices, smoked walnut puree and quince miso. Wonderful dish and beautiful presentation -- one of the more expensive items on the menu - £64
Dessert -- lots of good choices but one intrigued me. I was leery because it sounded too filling/heavy. But the server reassured me and I went for it. A warm acorn flour cake (baked in sort of a large ramekin/small casserole) with smoked caramel, Macallan single malt and clotted cream. it was beyond fabulous - £27+£9 supplement for the Macallan
Various Beverages - Sparkling water, glass of very good champagne, glass of wine and jasmine tea = £59

Grand total including service was £213.90 which seems really exorbitant but honestly it was worth every pence.

Dinner Saturday: My only other booked meal was and early dinner at the Portrait Restaurant before walking across to the London Colosseum for Pirates. Not sure why but every time I eat here whether solo or with others I always get what I think is the best table in the room right in the center of the wall of windows. Munched on olives, then a smoked salmon starter with kohlrabi and apple, really good lamb chops with eggplant, chicory and anchovy, plus sparkling water, wine and tea all in with the 10% discount for being a member came to £75

Other things I did -- besides eating.

Exhibitions/'stuff':

Friday - The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence at the V&A. This opened soon after I visited at the end of October and runs til early May. If anyone is in London during this time . . . GO. It is an amazing exhibition. The workmanship, metalwork/jewels, and intricacy of many items is almost unimaginable. Plus a lot of other amazing items -- carpets, robes, jade, portraits, The Taj Mahal of course but other building and illuminated texts.One carpet covers an entire wall. I'll try to post a few photos later.

Saturday - I couldn't find a Burns Night dinner with availability so settled for a Balvenie sponsored whisky tasting at the County Hall Marriott Saturday afternoon. Saturday would have been really hectic with a Noon lecture at the IWM, the whisky tasting at 3PM, Portrait Restaurant at 5 and Pirates at 7PM. Best laid plans . . . Two days before traveling I received an e-mail from the IWM that the talk was cancelled. I was looking forward to it - about Oxford during WWII by a well know historian/author. But never mind -- makes the day easier. So instead I saw Drawing the Italian Renaissance at the Kings Gallery (still seems strange no longer being the Queen's Gallery) which had a really well done audio guide.

Then it was such a nice day (cold but crystal clear) I decided to walk over the river to the Marriott. Its about a mile but mostly through the park so a lovely walk. But trying to cross Westminster Bridge OMG -- what a mob! On a cold Saturday in January no less -- it would be just about impossible in July or August. I hate selfie sticks ;)

The tasting is in the Gilray's Bar at the Marriott - which a a great place for cocktails with views across the river to Big Ben Parliament and the Eye, etc. (another nice room w/ the views is the Library which does afternoon teas).

I get there and there and there are all kinds of apologies and tut-ing and tsk-ing "Oh we are sooooooo sorry but the event was cancelled" (! two in one day !) "We were meant to send you and e-mail but now it seems it wasn't sent". And they proceeded to treat me like a queen :) I did pay for olives but a flight of 5 Balvenie single malts of various casks and ages, PLUS three mini cocktails based on Balvenie but very tropical - all were comped! Since the tasting would have been £45 I figure I came out way ahead LOL. No I wasn't schnockered. - honest. The flight tastings were small and I only finished two of the cocktails and only took a few sips of the other one. I prefer my single malts neat with just a few drops of water in the more smoky/peaty ones (which Balvenie definitely isn't - it is soooooo smooth) So a frothy cocktail with coconut and papaya sounds disgusting -- but it was absolutely delish. That's one I finished.

Decided to walk it off back over the river and to the Portrait Gallery walked down river - hopped a ride on the Carousel then across the Jubilee Bridge and up Charing Cross Rd to the Portrait. Then after dinner walked practically across the street to the ENO. I love Pirates and this was an especially good production -- though the sets were sort of blah.

Sunday - I saw two exhibits at Tate Modern: Electric Dreams: Art & Technology before the Internet and Anthony McAll, Solid Light. Both were quite extensive and more interesting that I maybe thought beforehand. The McAll especially had some amazing works but in some rooms all the moving/morphing lights were a bit dizzy-making. 😵

Misc: I took the tube from LHR to the Conrad. The hotel is practically on top of the St James's Park station and even though the stairs there are a beast I do travel light so it wasn't too bad getting my carry-on up the steps.

Booked justairports for the trip back to LHR Sunday evening -- could have taken the tube but I was staying at the Holiday Inn Express @ Terminal 4 and that makes thing just a bit more complicated plus its a fairly long walk (all covered) between the tube station/terminal/hotel I opted for the car service. Had a great driver.

Only did a little shopping and bought a crazy thing . . . a BBQ at Fortnum & Mason. Not a full on BarBQue but more like a large hibachi and perfect when I don't need to use the big boy. https://www.fortnumandmason.com/fortnums-barbecue With the vat off the top then adding shipping it came to £69.

Only other things of note had a light breakfast in the V&A Members Room, bought an inexpensive bracelet in the gift shop, had snacks/tea in the Tate Modern Members Room and stopped most evenings for a nightcap in the Conrad's cocktail lounge.

The Conrad is a very nice hotel - not the Savoy ;) but less than half the price. Great service, large-ish modern room, in-room tea/coffee, turndown service if you want and a really large bathroom with separate bath and walk in shower.

Sounds like another great trip. How lucky to get the upgrade to business class for $400 - you clearly live right! And cute little bbq.

I cannot understand that pricing, but it might connect with the grandfathering of flight slots at LAX and LHR plus if everyone is charging a lot of money then it could be described as a Cabal which is illegal in US and UK.

I always love your reports!
The meal at HIDE sounds fabulous and definitely memorable for all the right reasons.
LOVE the BBQ - far too gorgeous to ever use!

After many trips to London and Paris and around Europe (thanks to conferences my husband went to) for the last 15-20 years I’m kind of over traveling. We do a lot of road trips up and down the great state of Calif, but the one place I would perhaps get on a plane for is London. The art, the food, the shopping and so many great museums and neighborhoods. I’m beyond amazed that you can do these quick trips from California. My jet lag seemed to get worse and worse as I got older. Maybe you never change your sleeping habits and that helps?

What a whirlwind trip! You sure do know London (I looked up a few of your trip reports)
The food descriptions were fantastic and I took lots of notes.
Thanks for taking us along

I laughed at your Westminster Bridge description. We were there (staying at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel) on June of 2 different trips with granddaughters. And you are right, the bridge was a madhouse.

I love your trip reports and I admire that you are not shy about going for a few short days and coming home with no regard for jet lag. We're always trying to make it "worth the jet lag" or maybe worth the expense but there's something about just going for a hop. I think our digs would prefer that.

Oh please. You're trying to figure out AA's yield management system?? YOU?? Obviously you flunked out of Hogwarts.

(And I won't even mention that a 3-continent business class Oneworld Explorer RTW starting in Oslo is around $4600. Oh, sorry.)

Your meal descriptions were amazing. With those prices I can only imagine what a whisky-intensive Burns Supper would have cost.

Such a boring game :(

It was maybe a teensy bit extravagant but i REALLY wasn't looking forward to the overnight flight in Coach . . . though I did survive the trip home just fine. So now I know I won't melt if I have to sit in the back ;)


It really is cute and plenty large enough unless I'm grilling for a crowd. Love the Fortnum 'Eau de Nil' -- sort of Tiffany-esque :)

I always said if I lived on the east coast I'd be taking all sorts of long weekends to the UK and Continent - especially with the daytime flights. But being on the left coast I assumed that would never be. But honestly since I've decided to fly lay flats exclusively on over night flights I haven't suffered much jet lag -- or al least not the debilitating sort.


The bridge has been pretty crowded for years (except right after the UK reopened back in 2021) but this was cray cray crazy crowded and on a chilly January day.


I think you mean dogs?? 🐶 🐶 LOL Yeah -- it took me a while to figure out more frequent short trips are easier to manage (pets, costs, mail, garden, etc) that the 4,5,6 week trips I used to take once a year.

Gardyloo -- didn't see your post . . . If anyone can figure out AA/BA I thought it would be you :)

wish I could do 4 days in London-oh come to think of it I did once but not my choice.
The Portrait gallery food is wonderful as are the views and the company lol.Coming up for 10 years ago

Hi janis,

Great report !

I don't understand what you mean by VAT off the top:

With the vat off the top then adding shipping it came to £69.

Since Brexit I was told VAT refunds were not possible.

DId you have the item shipped back to the US so VAT could not be charged?

I'm also in the camp of being very admiring (and probably somewhat jealous) of your ability to take short trips like that - I would love to be able to do that.

But I've found on my last several trips over to Europe that I've been unable to adjust to the time difference quickly - consistently waking up every morning around 2-3 am and unable to go back to sleep, and unable to stay awake past 7 or 8 pm. This will last for almost 2 weeks and only really get better when my trip is about to end.

This never used to be a problem before - I used to suffer little to no jet lag while on my trip and just moderately once home.

Since they shipped it I wasn't getting a 'VAT refund' as such. F&M were exporting the item.

Jet lag used to affect me differently -- instead of waking up in the middle of the night and getting tired early, I get sort of 'wired' -- unable to sleep but not feeling tired - sometimes going essentially sleepless for 2 or three nights. But several years ago I started flying Business/sleeping at least a few hours on the flight, not booking any flights that land before at least late morning, and taking a sleep aid the first night, I haven't had those problems. No more of these landing a 0600 and having to wait hours to check in and trudge through the day. My perfect flight lands around 1 or 2 PM but any time after around 10/10:30 AM. This trip I landed later than I've ever done before eastbound transatlantic - around 4PM and that was great.

I do envy East Coasters who can do same day flights landing in the evening.

A couple times we took that same day flight and it was bliss. Our younger son was living in NYC so we flew from Calif and saw him, then took the flight to London in the morning that got us there around 6 or 7pm. Even though we did business class for years I find it almost impossible to sleep for more than a few hours even with a sleep aid. So I was always super jet lagged for days, got on a schedule for a few days, then back home and a mess for a week.

oops - was trying to post some photos and they are too large so will resize them . . .

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2 of the three amuse bouche at The Pem


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Scallop starter at The Pem


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Venison


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View from HIDE


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truly wonderful scallop dish at HIDE

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Pigeon at HIDE

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BEST dessert ever!


I have no idea why the sizes are all over the place -- I'll do some editing before posting some more.

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Breakfast at the V&A

Some shots of The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence


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Jade ewer


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Some amazing workmanship


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Dagger / Sheath


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Tiny rock crystal bowl with gold and gems


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Floor tiles


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amazing stone inlays


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Huge carpet

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Gilray's Bar


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Three (comped) Balvenie cocktails


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Walking across the river

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Sorry the resolution on most shots isn't that good. They really are sharper than that but instead of transferring to my laptop I e-mailed them to myself and screwed something up???

Short trip deluxe! Fine report, and lovely photos, janis.

​​​​​​ Marriage of Figaro, that I saw and loved at ENO a week or so later, featured a white wall with four doors spaced across. Pretty darn minimal, but so effectively used. Maybe lavish sets and costumes are a thing of the past. Creativity overcomes stingy budget?