Well, two years ago (almost to the minute! haha) I would have just been finishing The London Marathon! It was one of the greatest days of my life ... and I clearly remember the pain and agony!

So - today has been hotel filming day. The Oyster Box has 86 rooms & suites. It was originally opened in the 1940's but in 2007 was bought, closed and refurbished ... it took around 2 years to do the work and it opened again in October 2009.

The refurb was very sympathetic to the original design ... but there have been some wonderful additions like the Turkish tiles on the ceilings of the main restaurant.

So - up with the sunrise at 0615 and straight into the swimming pool for a quick dip. Breakfast at 0715 and then we start filming at 0800.

I "arrived" in style ... a vintage Rolls-Royce. The hotel has a resident cat. I like cats ... I LOVE cats ... I have two of my own ... but this chap Scabengza (which translates as "naughty" in Zulu) is erm - a rather grumpy! When I say he is terratorial, I am understating his character. While we filmed in his area of the hotel (reception, lobby and front of house) he circled us like a hungry hawk. It was quite unnerving!

From there it was an interview with the fabulous General Manager Wayne Coetzer who has kept us smiling and on our toes in equal measures. He has worked here for nearly a decade and has seen it blossom & help guide it into one of the finest hotels in South Africa.

From there I reviewed my Suite - my 500th review in my career!

I have The Presidential Suite here at the hotel - which retails at 50,000 Rand a night ... one/if not the most expensive suites in the country.

It's a duplex and in total around 8000 square feet in area. Upstairs: master bedroom, office, his & her bathrooms, changing room ... private elevator ... downstairs: dining table for 10, bar, seating area, kitchen, another bedroom (lovely) and a large oustide space with an infinity plunge pool! My view? 180 degrees of Indian Ocean ... and a lighthouse! More on that tomorrow ...

It's an awesome suite! I am a VERY lucky boy ... even more as I am actually the first "guest" in it!

After a quick lunch, we headed to the cellar ... which has a glass roof that is also the floor of the bar above ... to eat some oysters with the hotel's executive chef Kevin Joseph - who has also been here for 9 years! I am not a HUGE fan of oysters but they get through over 2,000 a DAY here! The oysters here are wild not cultivated (farmed) ... and so they taste fresh, more oystery (?) and chewier! I managed to eat two ... washed down with champagne! Thank goodness for alcohol!

It's been a long day ... early supper ... early to bed ...

Tomorrow ... we start again!

Song of the Day: Suspicious Minds - Elvis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmAPYkPeYU

Weather: Glorious!

Scabengza - looking cute!
I react as I am about to be swiped by an moody cat!
Arrive in style!
Wayne Coetzer
Bar
Dining table ... great high-backed chairs!
Seating area
Colourful padded wallcovering
Entrance hall
Chandelier
Free standing bath in "her" bathroom
My view!!!
My pool
Kitchen
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 2's bathroom
My bed
James taking elevators photos!
My desk
Lovely details

Kevin Joseph and THAT oyster!

Greetings from Durban in South Africa and more specifically, The Oyster Box ...

Today I celebrate the 400th continuous entry on the daily diary AND also - as it happens - The Oyster Box is the 500th 5-star hotel I have reviewed ... which is not bad for just under 12 years of being a travel journalist ... these are both milestones for me ... I will have a wee whisky to celebrate tonight!

We left on time last night from Heathrow and arrived in Johannesburg early this morning. I keep forgetting how easy the overnight flight to SA is ... AND there is only 1 hour time difference between the UK ... which is fabulous on my bodyclock.

We flew BA and were suprised how many empty seats there were in each class.

SA is gearing up for the soccer World Cup. I don't have a clue about soccer but I know an excited country when I see one! The airports have gone soccer crazy! It's going to be a good one ...

Anyway, the flight from London was 10.5 hours then we jumped onto an internal flight to Durban which took a further hour.

On arrival at Durban International Airport, we were shuttled - by our driver for the week Clifford - the 40 minutes to The Oyster Box in the affluent suburb of Umhlanga.

Tomorrow is hotel filming day but we did spend some time with the hotel General Manager Wayne Coetzer ... preparing for the next couple of days.

The boys are well and are prepping all the kit.

I did not make it to the swimming pool today ... the weather was not as good as expected so I opted for a delightful massage in the Spa. It was an hour treatment but I only remember the 2 minutes at the beginning and 2 at the end as I was in a deep sleep for the rest of it! My therapist Vanessa MUST have been amused!

An early supper tonight and then the work begins in earnest.

I am so happy to be here in Durban and The Oyster Box looks magnificent.

Song of the Day: Drive - The Cars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbTjzZzfR7w

Weather: Calm - rainy - calm - windy - warm - calm

The rather damp view as I am about to land in J'burg
The queues at the airport were very long!
I left my firearm at home! Darn it!
View of Durban ... no rain! Yay!
The airport - which is "decommissioned" on May 1st!

Really?? I am sure I am in Umhlanga!
The view from my Suite ... and yes, that IS a lighthouse

OK - so in the lounge at Terminal 5 at Heathrow!

In 30 minutes I am off to South Africa ... and the journey to get "here" has been so stressful that I am sure to sleep the whole way!

As a team, we carry around 150 kgs excess luggage ... and we have to clear customs everwhere ... hassle, hassle ... but hey ...

The weather is stunning here in London and I am sad to leave it. I am hoping that Durban will be hot and dry.

There is no disruption here at airport - business as usual ... but apparently it will go crazy from tomorrow.

Song of the Day: So fresh, so clean - Outkast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp2hvM2LL_4

Weather: Happy ...

It was a real 80's day ...

I am almost definitely off to South Africa so I am making sure my Spotify is filled with all the tunes that make me happy and yes, the 80's is what I am all about!

Aztec Camera, Fairground Attraction, The Cure, Big Country, Billy Idol, Frankie Goes to Hollywood ... oh, the list goes on.

In my attempt to get fit, I am hitting my local swimming pool every day and I am loving it! I switch my cellphone off and just lap for well ... 30 minutes! It just makes me feel all fresh and happy. I do a lot of thinking as well - which scares me. I am not very good at thinking ... and being by myself ... brrr ....

So, yes, tomorrow I get on a BA ("we're not happy until you're not happy") aircraft and jet off to Johannesburg and then to Durban ... where Gandhi is still a "local hero" ... then it's off on safari!

I have also realised that I will be here for the General Election ... but does the ballot paper have "none of the above" on it?

Song of the Day: Welcome to the Pleasuredome - Frankie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycCLXLiZWs

Weather: Summer has arrived ...

hello leo!

Ah - Day 2 of my "trip" to New York that never happened!

Woke up to find that the world was "up in air" again. And now the recriminations start. Who is to blame for the delays. All I can say is that to let passengers fly with knowing what the consequences could have been would have been negligent ... I would not want to have been a passenger on the "experimental" flight on Day 1 or 2 of this crisis!

So - South Africa looks good for Friday. First stop is Durban ... and according to the weather forecast, it's going to be HOT!

I have really got into swimming lately - I am no Duncan Goodhew (whatever happened to him) but I manage to do a few lengths before I pretend to be a Baywatch victim.

I had an Istanbul moment today ... I saw a cat near the pool who rather than running away came right up to me to say "hello". The last time a strange moggy came to say hello was at the Topkapi Palace ... it made a cold morning very warming!

Song of the Day: Rocking All Over the World - Status Quo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8K8Hj8bxE

Weather: Clear, cool and ASH-FREE!

back in the skies!

So, what have I done today? Obviously I am not in New York ... which is sad ... but being at home in the warmth is just so much better than the thousands of people stranded around the world who are desperate to get to their homes ...

Cigar, walk the pooch in the sunshine, a lovely swim and steam in the spa, a read of the newspapers, pizza, an afternoon nap, a movie ...

In fact, I watched this very bizarre movie called Franklyn. If you see it on the shelves, walk by quickly. It's just ... odd.

Song of the Day: Shakespeare's Sister - Stay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eXw47qb4U0

Weather: Chilly but clear

odd

Now, what if you were told that you had THREE extra days in your schedule that you didn't expect? Well, this has happened to me as my trip to NYC has been cancelled .. so I have a Tuesday, Wednesday and a Thursday ... hmmm .... what should I do? Well, I can't fly anywhere, one of friends is having a baby so that counts her and her husband out, my other friends are stuck in St Lucia, another in Hong Kong ... hmmm hmmm ... what to do, what to do ....

ANYWAY - today was exhausting but fun as I spent the day in meetings in London ... the sun was shining, the sky blue ... pretty girls were jogging the parks ... and there were NO aircraft in the sky! It was kind of like the last day of school .. or the last day of "the world" as we know it!

I did not wake up with ash on my car - just a big splodge of bird poo ... that's meant to be lucky in some countries.

So - got to see one of my favourite PR/people in the world - Sian Griffiths from The Peninsula in Hong Kong. Am filming in Shanghai later this year and The Pen has a property there that I want to film in ...

Walked everywhere today ... no Underground or buses. It was just lovely.

What to do ... what to do?

Song of the Day: Faster than the setting sun - Fyfe Dangerfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fzxzKByfdc

Weather: Glorious!
The "new" Four Seasons in London ... the refurbishment is going well!

The Wellington Arch

The Berkeley

The Eye ...

The Houses of Parliament

A lone piper on Westminster Bridge

The world has stopped. It's most strange having no commercial planes flying overhead ...

I remember visiting Arizona once and going to those aircraft graveyards. I can imagine that all the major airports - Heathrow, Gatwick etc are just ghost-towns ... thousands of planes ... with nowhere to go.

I have had a relaxing day and am STILL in my pyjamas ... albeit "daytime" pjs! I even went for a drive ... and to the swimming pool in them!

Sundays .... you got to love them!

Song of the Day: It's In The Way That You Use It - Eric Clapton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzJZTwFYKv4

Weather: HEAVEN


comfy

So, the other day I was sitting in reception in a hotel in London and a gentleman sat down on the sofa next to me. I did not know who he was BUT could see he was wearing a Robert Graham shirt. I said "hello"and complimented him on his shirt and we got chatting!

I was watching the New York show today and the boss of RG - Robert Stock - said that people make friends over RG's shirts ... and he is totally correct!

I seem to make friends over the most insignificant things in life ... and that makes me happy!

Still no flights in/out of the UK. Oh dear.

Video of the Day: http://www.facebook.com/aysegularg#!/?ref=home
(150,000 snapshots of Istanbul ... fabulous)

Weather: Lovely

Robert Stock

Airline strikes could not do it, nor could terrorists but a volcanic eruption under an ice-sheet has paralysed air travel in the UK & Europe ...

Two very dear friends who were set to be house guests this weekend were stuck abroad - one in Rotterdam and one in Amsterdam. One will make it after fighting for a seat on a ferry - sadly the other is still on the other side of the Channel.

Next week WAS set to be a travel week for me - NYC & South Africa ... am now awaiting news on both ...

Song of the Day: Hometown Glory - Adele (High Contrast Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozV_vWXZgZY

Weather: Warm here ...

The last 24 hours have been a mixture between stress and happiness ... and this I suppose is what life is all about ... I, of course, would prefer much more of the latter than the former!

The last couple of nights have been spent at 41 - a boutique luxury hotel near Buckingham Palace. I don't know what the service is like at the Palace ... but at 41, service is fit for a king ... and I am not sure I know of a hotel in London that exudes such professionalism and genuine "love" in equal measures. I had a rather lovely suite that was not the largest in the world but still had not one, not two but three showers (& a bath) in it! For a clean-freak like me ... heaven!

Also, I filled in a "guest preference" form for the first time in ages! It was executed perfectly ... buckwheat pillows, whisky, golf & travel magazines ... and the whole Pink Panther (Peter Sellers)series on DVD! Heaven!

SO - yesterday was spent in the edit suite which was painful because of the cutting but also triumphant as the Tasmania show is going to look so lovely.

My evening was just perfect.

As you can imagine I don't get to see the ones I love very much but last night I had dinner with two of my dearest friends in the world. What made it even more special was that we ate at my new favourite restaurant in London. I am the biggest critic (literally) of Indian food as I have been brought up on Mama's cooking - which any Mummy's boy will tell you is the best in the world!

Anyway last night I tried, for the first time, Moti Mahal in Covent Garden. It's a real triumph in North Indian cuisine. We started with "Raj style cocktails" - Gimlets (Gin, spot of lime and soda) with delicious starters of chaat and tender lamb kebabs (you would think that after Istanbul I would steer clear of kebabs for a while .. but no!). Main courses were butter chicken, chicken tikka, dal, rice and dreamy naan breads. All washed down with a wonderful red from the Napa Valley (the sommelier Maria is a delightful, font of knowledge). Desserts were incredible ... Indian without the heavy cheesy and sugary taste.

The service was First Class, the cuisine faultless and the company divine. If only every evening could be like that! Both my guests are STILL smiling today!

The chef Anirudh Arora is one to watch ... a Michelin-star beckons very soon. This review may sound gushy but deservedly so. It's my new culinary "home" in London ... I am counting down the days to my next visit.

I end today's diary on a sad note - the "retirement" of one of the finest GM's I have ever worked with - Victoria Shaw from Eichardt's in Queenstown, New Zealand. She just "gets it" in every way ... I really hope that the hotel industry has not seen the last of her ... she's a true gem.

Song of the Day: The Best Things In Life are Free - Luther Vandross/Janet Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaNNdQVQB9k

Weather: The sun has got his hat on ...

Dinner venue in Covent Garden ...

Chef Anirudh, darling Julia and lovely Tim .. a truly memorable evening!
My suite at "41"

Comfy bed

Living room

Dining room

Weekend viewing!

Victoria ...