the connaught

Modern
Mayfair

the maybourne papers

the connaught
issue 1 / winter12009 - 2010
 the connaught the connaught

Welcome to the first issue of the Connaught

paper, a round
Connaught up ofa round
paper, thoughts,
up news and events.
of
In thoughts,
this issue news and events.
we reflect on the renaissance of
Mayfair
In andwe
this issue look forward
reflect to the seasons festivities.
on the
We will alsoofbeMayfair
renaissance introducing
and our
looknew private
entertaining rooms designed by Guy Oliver,
forward to the season’s festivities.
unveiling
We ourbetopintroducing
will also floor private
ourapartment
designed
new by David
private Collinsrooms
entertaining and previewing
the AmanbySpa.
designed Guy Oliver, unveiling
our
For top
morefloor private apartment
information please refer to our website
designed by David
the-connaught.com Collins and
previewing the Aman Spa.
Please send correspondence to editor@maybourne.com
For more information please refer
to our website the-connaught.co.uk
Please send correspondence to
editor@maybourne.com

2 3

Winter
Wonderland
This season the Connaught has
unveiled its top floor private
apartment. Designed by David
Collins, the sumptuous apartment
features a roof terrace with sweeping
views over Carlos Place, a private
staircase entrance and a spacious
sitting-room. Among other benefits,
guests of this luxurious apartment
will be served by a dedicated Butler.
The spacious sitting-room in an understated
palette of heathery blues and ocean greys,
double height vaulted ceiling, lavender-
veined marble fireplace, inviting navy blue
velvet sofas, romantic window seats and
wrap around balconies.
the connaught
The airy master bedroom, in gold-suffused
cream and blue, with silk and lace canopied
King-sized bed, grosgrain ribbon detailed
walls, bespoke furniture including a
crocodile topped table housing a plasma gold medallist Tom Stuart-Smith.
TV and DVD player, adjoining dressing
room, en suite bathroom and King-sized
guest bedroom with en suite bathroom.
4 5
the connaught
Amenities
• Descamps bedlinen for the main
and guest bedroom (450 threadcount)
• Complimentary bottle of Krug champagne
on arrival
• Chauffeur-driven transfer to & from airport
• Personalised robes
• Bamford organic and natural
bathroom amenities
• Complimentary soft drinks
and water from the mini-bar
• Complimentary movies
• Complimentary use of hptx2
state-of-the-art laptops
• Children’s sized dressing gowns and slippers
• Complimentary use of Nintendo Wii,
Playstation 3 and selection of games
• 24-hour private butler service
• Complimentary clothes pressing of
up to four items
• Hélène Darroze fine dining in
the private dining room
• Guaranteed access to Aman Spa
and treatments
The two spacious wrap-around terraces
affording magnificent views over Mayfair,
complete with garden furniture and topiary
designed by six time Chelsea Flower Show

The
Connaught
Noël
Join us for a very special Christmas
at Carlos Place. From Christmas
Eve to Boxing day the Connaught
will spoil you with magical surprises
and the most delicious menus.
Eggnog and mince pies on arrival
• white truffle from Alba “ice-cream”,
• E nglish breakfast on Christmas morning
• H orse-drawn carriage ride through
Mayfair village on Christmas morning
with hot chocolate or mulled wine
and mince pies
• Christmas lunch in Espelette, cuisine between Friday 18th December 2009
by Hélène Darroze
(For an additional £85pp guests can
dine in Hélène Darroze at the Connaught)
• Christmas cocktail in one of the bars
• Brunch in Hélène Darroze at the
Connaught on Boxing Day
• 4pm late checkout
• Concierge can assist with booking
midnight mass at local churches
W
 ith rates from £650pp for a Deluxe King
room, based on two people sharing.
The Connaught is helping to protect
penguins, polar bears and their habitats. cooked “au torchon”
Our Christmas programme therefore
includes your choice of a wwf “Help Save
Me” polar bear or penguin pack. Included taken at time of booking to guarantee
is a delightful cuddly polar bear or penguin your reservation. You may cancel your
according to your choice.
For reservations and further information
about the Connaught Noël, please call
+44(0)20 7107 8843, email reservations@
the-connaught.co.uk or visit the-connaught.
co.uk quoting “the Connaught Noël ”.
Please state your preference for a penguin
or polar bear when booking.
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Dinner New Year’s eve
£135
Leek and potato velouté,
Dinner 24th of December
ricotta green gnocchi, poached baby leeks,
black truffle from Périgord
£70
——
 Duck foie gras from Les Landes panacotta,
In Festive
chestnut emulsion
Spirit
——
 Ravioli of Rosewalt potato,
Scottish scallop
Scottish scallop tartare with lime and and black truffle from Périgord,
In addition to our Christmas programme, Aquitaine caviar, chicken jus
Britanny cauliflower velouté ——
——  Roasted venison with Lampong pepper,
and Sunday 10th January 2010 inclusive, pumpkin mousseline,
Crispy pancake of blue lobster,
the Connaught is pleased to offer spinach and cèpes, Lunch 25th of December Grand-Veneur sauce,
guests rooms from as little as £295 per pink champagne sauce Adults £95 / Children £55 stilton Chantilly
night room only for two people sharing —— ——
a Superior King-bedded room. Dodine of yellow capon from Les Landes White chocolate dome
stuffed with duck foie gras and chestnuts, with light cottage cheese,
blackcurrant jus
Minimum length of stay applies. creamy salsifis and roasted girolles,
——
Price excludes vat. black truffle emulsion
—— “Alpaco” chocolate cream,
Christmas log with hazelnut, Smoked Scottish salmon, chocolate cake, coffee Chantilly,
Jivara chocolate and crispy praline potato waffles with dill Jersey granite, opaline
—— cream and chives,
caviar from Aquitaine
——
 Duck foie gras from Les Landes
with Jurançon sweet wine,
The Connaught Noël Terms & Conditions
Christmas chutney
A deposit of 25% per person will be ——
 Roasted Scottish scallop,
spelt wheat risotto, beetroot reduction,
reservation up to 1st December 2009, lemongrass emulsion
——
after which the deposit becomes non-
 Traditional Christmas turkey
refundable. Full charge payable for ——
cancellations on or after 11th December  Christmas pudding,
2009. Offers are subject to availability. Brandy sauce
——
Rates include vat at 15% and exclude a
5% discretionary service charge. Offers
may not be used in association with
any other offers or negotiated rates and
apply to new bookings only. Calls may be
monitored for quality control and training
purposes. Lunch and dinner exclusive
of beverages. One cocktail per person.
Minimum two night stay.
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The Private
Portfolio
This season the Connaught unveils Leaded windows provide tranquil views
a suite of new private entertaining over the neighbouring mews. From here
a staircase leads to the Ballroom, entered
rooms for groups of six to 200. through impressive silver and bronze double
Designed by Guy Oliver and doors. The walls are hung with silver
featuring a delightful courtyard satinised silk, with a hint of lavender, set
garden created by six times Chelsea between silver grey marble pilasters
supporting the coffered ceiling lit by ten
gold medallist Tom Stuart-Smith. especially designed hand-made chandeliers.
Here up to 120 guests can be seated for
lunch or dinner and a state-of-the-art sound
and lighting system and a sprung parquet
dance floor set within a marble border, make
the space an excellent choice for gala
The Connaught has long been one of dinners, presentations, private screenings,
London’s most exclusive venues. Now, and exclusive catwalk shows. The area may
in addition to its two historic meeting and also be divided into two and is the first
dining rooms, the Georgian and Regency Ballroom to be built in Mayfair for 80 years.
Rooms, a sumptuous ballroom and two more The two smaller syndicate rooms
intimate meeting and dining spaces are accommodate up to six and 12 guests
being added, designed with unique flair by respectively, perfect for board meetings
leading interiors expert Guy Oliver. This and power dining. Lined with silvered oak
means that the hotel will now cater with panelling and mirrored ceilings, their
style for any size of event between six and decorative windows overlook the gardens.
200 guests, enjoying Michelin-starred menus
For further information please contact
from acclaimed cuisinière Hélène Darroze.
the Connaught events team on
Approached via a delightful courtyard
+44 (0)20 7107 8894
garden designed by six times Chelsea gold
medallist Tom Stuart-Smith, along
barrel-vaulted paths of Portland stone,
the feeling is very much part of the buzzy
Mayfair Village scene, with vitrines
displaying the cream of the area’s
fashionable boutiques and galleries.
The look is thirties but with a most
contemporary twist. The Meeting Suite,
lined in stone, with its mirrored ceiling
echoed in the circular pattern of the black
and white marble flooring, allows up to
120 guests to gather in comfort. This
flexible area also divides to provide a
smaller gathering space and a meeting or
presentation room for up to 60 people, or
alternatively a dining room and a secondary
meeting room for up to 20 guests.

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Martini
Matters
You may consider yourself a Martini
connoisseur: but until you have tried one
at the Connaught Bar, you haven’t lived.
First, the bar trolley is wheeled to your table.
Choose from a selection of the best gins
or vodkas, then choose the flavour of your
choice from an array of test tubes: vanilla,
coriander and liquorice are the favourites.
The bartender stirs (never shakes, James
Bond take note), and serves up in a Lalique
glass, Santé.
For reservations at the Connaught Bar and more
information please contact the Connaught on
+44 (0)20 7499 7070

MLAB,
M’Lord
This season, lucky suite guests at the
Connaught will receive a complimentary
package of MLAB cosmeceutical skincare,
the most efficacious and luxurious anti-
aging formula in the world. They will
also benefit from the specialist anti-aging
skincare and product training each
Connaught Butler has received.
MLAB is the flagship product of
Milbar Laboratories, a leader in innovative
professional skincare developed for
dermatologists and plastic surgeons for
over 25 years. This is skincare for the
twenty first century and includes
remarkable, un-precedented levels of
clinically active ingredients combined in
an effective matrix formula that targets all
signs of skin aging.
MLAB is available exclusively for purchase
online at mlabonline.com and also
at Harrods, London.
10 11

Back to the future,
Modern Mayfair
With a growing shift in values,
is our appreciation for the authentic
and the rare making a come back?
During the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s we became
obsessed with the future, what it looked like,
what dangers it would bring, how it would
change us and how we could get there even
more quickly. We wanted everything faster,
bigger, newer and with this yearning to fast
forward came an appreciation of technology
over tried and trusted methods, a love of
automation over personalization and a boom
in mass produced luxuries which sadly
suffocated a traditional market in authentic
specialist goods. Having sated our appetites
for space age gadgets, minimalist
environments and luxury defined by logo
there has been a slow but steady return in
recent years to an appreciation for the
authentic, the specialist and the rare.
This shift in values coincided beautifully with
the re-birth of Mayfair and more particularly,
the Connaught on Carlos Place, London’s
legendary home of authenticity and quality, Mayfair is the oldest butcher in the district,
a place at once buzzing with the palpable
energy (and money!) of the new Mayfair
and protecting and promoting an enviable
heritage in obsessive attention to detail,
provenance and service.
the connaught the connaught
The Connaught tackled what would seem
an impossible task, to retain exemplary
traditional service, a central location in
the bit of Mayfair that matters and that
Connaught feeling you can’t put your finger
on - like an established country house, with
the most charming host, slap bang in the
middle of the city. All of this was combined
with the best contemporary design, a brave
and brilliant art buyer and some of the
youngest, hottest talent around, from the
Michelin-starred Hélène Darroze in the
kitchen to the young international team
of front of house managers. Far from being
intimidated by the history, they have
embraced the best of its past and seamlessly
combined it with an energy and efficiency
which is bang up to date.
Mayfair is no stranger to excellence and has
long been home to the specialist, Allens of
established in 1830 and is still a mark of
exemplary quality, although they are now
more likely to be selling filet to a fund
manager than quail to the kitchen maid.
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More and more of us are now engaged in This focus on the personal and re-thinking
the pleasurable pursuit of excellence, what really matters today extends through
the refined editing of experience, seeking
out the very best and perhaps more
importantly wanting to evaluate experiences
for ourselves and understand why we think
something is superior. It’s perhaps no surprise
then that these few streets in Mayfair,
known locally as Mayfair Village have
attracted some of the most desirable
international brands. We can credit Marc
Jacobs with putting Mount Street back on
the map as a home to desirable, unique
boutiques and since its launch in 2007,
Mount Street and Carlos Place have been
transformed with Balenciaga, Diane von
Furstenberg, Louboutin, Lanvin,
Wunderkind and most recently Goyard
moving in. One can still shop for guns,
game and badger brushes for your bristles
thanks to James Purdey and sons and
Thomas Goode.
At the heart of this Mayfair Village is the
Connaught, which promotes the age old
question, which came first the chicken or
the egg?, Carlos Place or the Connaught?
No matter, however they came about it’s a
marriage made in heaven. With the
confidence of a business rooted in the past
but with a very clear vision of the future the
Connaught has made over their butler
service for the 21st Century. Their butlers
can advise on anything from styling to
skincare, IT to high tea and each of them
has been trained by John Lobb to provide
the best shoe shine in London.
the hotel and is even reflected in the
provenance of the produce used in the
hotels restaurants and bars. Explore the
menus and you will find a delightful
selection of jams produced by French
maker Christine Ferber and exquisite
brandy made with artisan methods by
Hélène Darroze’s father.
The Connaught is typically modest when
pushed on this approach, they simply state
that their guests are very special, as
connoisseurs of luxury they demand
authentic knowledge, a superior experience
and personalization where possible. It is this
that they believe has driven the renaissance
of the expert. After an afternoon spent
people watching in the Coburg bar I can
only agree, the people they are catering for
are a rare breed, an exciting mix, rarely seen
together anywhere else, a kind of big game
park of London life, you can wander in and
witness the big five (fashion, art, politics,
money and society) clearly delighting in an
experience which blends the best of the old
and the best of the new. The renaissance of
the Connaught reflects a wider trend, a
return to the expertise, dedication and
quality for which Mayfair has always been
renowned. Long live authentic luxury!
The Editor
editor@maybourne.com

14 15
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Gourmet
Brunch is a subject very close to Hélène’s
heart, she says “I fondly recall many long
weekend brunches that I enjoy preparing for

Brunch my friends in France and Britain. Sunny

As one of France’s most celebrated
chefs, two Michelin-starred
Hélène Darroze has reinvented restaurant guests are treated to a variety
the traditional Saturday brunch.
16 17
mornings in early Spring, the smell of freshly
baked breads and the perfect company
of family and friends all on one table make
brunch the most cherished moment of my
weekend.” Once inside her eponymous
of flavourful cured meats and country-style
pâtés including Bayonne ham and chorizo
which are all sourced from Pierre Oteiza,
one of Darroze’s favourite Basque
delicatessen shops.
A true gourmet treat, Hélène Darroze at
the Connaught is the perfect conclusion
to a chic Mayfair morning and the must-
visit destination for a fashionable weekend
get-together.
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All is calm
All is bright
Winter has most certainly arrived
and with it the dreaded dull
complexions and seasonal fatigue of
contemporary urban life. Shorter days,
darker nights and the ‘wonderful’
London weather all conspire to sap
energy and increase stress.

Thank goodness for the Connaught, with

its usual uncanny timing and knack for
knowing what we want before we do our-
selves, the hotel has just launched a new
Aman Spa. A serious destination spa with
a menu which reflects the flavours of each
of the Aman locations. Luxurious contem-
porary design with an Asian touch, holistic
consultants, treatment rooms with personal
steam rooms and a unique range of signature
treatments, the spa has been described as
‘the ne plus ultra of city spas in the heart of
the world’s greatest city... escape into a quiet,
sensual place where you are looked after, in
the heart of a coddling hotel in the centre of
the most exclusive part of London’.
For reservations and more information please
contact the Connaught on +44 (0)20 7499 7070
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Urban
Gentry
Discover little-known gems and The Capital Art tour takes you through
visit off-the-radar sites. With tours
full of secrets no guide book could
ever reveal, Maybourne Hotel
Group has teamed up with the
hippest tour company, Urban
Gentry to create a series of über
stylish bespoke weekend packages.
20 21
London’s contemporary art epicentre to
the creative hotbed of London’s East End.
Guided by a local in-the-know artist you
will discover some of Europe’s most exciting
and stimulating galleries and artists.
The tour starts with an introduction and
talk by an East End gallery owner and/or
dealer just east of London’s financial district.
Once a scruffy wasteland, the early 1990s
marked the transformation of the East End
and today it plays a pivotal role in the
world’s contemporary art scene.
Example venues include Ibid Projects,
Alma Enterprises, Fred, David Reisley
Gallery, One in the Other, Vilma Gold,
T1+2, Paradise Row, Concrete Hermit,
T-Building, Flowers East, White Cube
The tours are available Tuesday - Sunday at
a time to suit you, starting after 11am. To fully
enjoy the experience you will need to set aside
half a day.
Transport - A private car or Black cab will
take you to and around East London and return
you to the Connaught at the end of the trip
Fee - £65 per hour
For further information and bookings please
email concierge@the-connaught.co.uk or call
+44 (0)20 7499 7070
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the connaught the connaught

24 3
Goyard
Select from an array of accessories uniquely
designed by La Maison Goyard’s meticulous atelier.
With their new delivery of dog leads and collars
arriving soon, walks through Mayfair with man’s
best friend have never been so enviable.

Mount Street Printers

Established in 1981 as creators
of fine stationery and exquisite Christian Louboutin
bespoke items. Treat your Indulge in the ultimate
friends and family to the sophistication with a
most sumptuous hand crafted pair of ‘Lady Page’ high

In the Bag
Christmas cards in all number heels. Created from
of traditional finishes. Or choose ‘Lie de vin’ silk with a
their gilt Edged place cards to navy velvet trim and
finish your Christmas table. a hand-stitched velvet
Mayfair Village shopping is an bow, these shoes
experience not to be missed, with are perfection!
some of the finest brands on offer,
we select this seasons must haves.

Marc Jacobs
If you don’t already have one,
the Eugenie clutch is the perfect
purchase of the season. With its
gold clasp detail and delicate studs,
this quilted clutch is sure to be a
firm favourite for seasons to come.

5 22
William & Son
Appointed by Her Majesty the Queen
in January 2009 there really is no finer
place to buy all things exquisite.
A Graf Von Faber-Castell fountain
pen comes highly recommended,
and the bespoke engraving is a must.

23
 1
24 3
Goyard
Select from an array of accessories uniquely
designed by La Maison Goyard’s meticulous atelier.
With their new delivery of dog leads and collars
arriving soon, walks through Mayfair with man’s
best friend have never been so enviable.

Mount Street Printers

Established in 1981 as creators
of fine stationery and exquisite Christian Louboutin
bespoke items. Treat your Indulge in the ultimate
friends and family to the sophistication with a
most sumptuous hand crafted pair of ‘Lady Page’ high

In the Bag
Christmas cards in all number heels. Created from
of traditional finishes. Or choose ‘Lie de vin’ silk with a
their gilt Edged place cards to navy velvet trim and
finish your Christmas table. a hand-stitched velvet
Mayfair Village shopping is an bow, these shoes
experience not to be missed, with are perfection!
some of the finest brands on offer,
we select this seasons must haves.

Marc Jacobs
If you don’t already have one,
the Eugenie clutch is the perfect
purchase of the season. With its
gold clasp detail and delicate studs,
this quilted clutch is sure to be a
firm favourite for seasons to come.

5 the maybourne papers

the connaught
issue 1 / winter 2009 - 2010

the connaught carlos place

24 mayfair london w1k 2al
William & Son
Appointed by Her Majesty the Queen
in January 2009 there really is no finer
place to buy all things exquisite.
A Graf Von Faber-Castell fountain
pen comes highly recommended,
and the bespoke engraving is a must.