The Ultras
Courtesy of Steve Dunlop
The Ultras, at The Tower of London on 1st October, were undoubtedly among the top highlights of the global luxury hospitality year. People had flown in from all over – Oracle arrived from Boston MA and Pan Pacific from Singapore and so on. Among the 250 people were many other CEOs, hoteliers, designers and supporters.
Courtesy of Steve Dunlop
The Ultras are organized by UltraTravel Collection, part of the Dubai-based Global Hotel Alliance GHA family: led by Chairman and CEO Chris Hartley, GHA is now 60 brands, over 1,000 hotels, with 38 million Discovery loyalty members – over two million of whom are in UK. Nick Perry, Chairman of UltraTravel – seen below, on left, with his equally-exuberant Editor-in-Chief, Farhad Heydari - was technically in charge of the event, but he couldn't have done it without the support of GHA. Harrods was a sponsor, as shown on the Tower. Regent Seven Seas Cruises RSSC, a significant GHA partner, was also emblazoned all over the Tower (thank you, Caroline Smith and your RSSC colleagues for the non-stop, beautifully chilled H. Blin Champagne that appeared to be bottomless).
The evening started with a tour, at your leisure, of the Crown Jewels. There, in glorious illumination, were crowns, orbs, sceptres and other regalia of royalty, past and present. Possibly the most unusual, as some said, was a baby crown, the size of a grapefruit, that was worn by Queen Victoria on top of her widow's weeds (a veil), after her beloved husband Prince Albert died. Some of the guests lingered longer over the culture.
Others raced almost as fast as their little legs would allow to the networking area. This was a pretty hefty physical feat. The main event was held at the top of the White Tower (1078 and still going strong, though it did require climbing 87 quite high outside steps – thank goodness it wasn't raining). Here were the awards, deemed, according to UltraTravel:
Best luxury cruise line – Regent Seven Sea Cruises
Best airline – Delta, Americas; Lufthansa, Europe; Middle East, Emirates (and best airline in the world); Singapore Airlines, Asia/Australasia
Best airport – Singapore Changi
Best hotel – The Surrey, Corinthia, New York; Pan Pacific London, Europe; Marsa Malaz Kempinski The Pearl Doha, Middle East/Africa; The Leela Palace New Delhi, India/Indian Ocean; Capella Bangkok, Asia Pacific
Best new luxury hotel – Anantara Koh Yao Yai Resort & Villas
UltraTravel Collection hotel of the year – Capella Sydney
Luxury hotel brand of the year – Anantara
Favourite country for a holiday - Japan
Courtesy of Steve Dunlop
The final accolade went to Lifetime Achiever Bill Heinecke, Chairman of Minor Hotel Corporation – see him below, with Chris Hartley, emotionally momentarily overcome as UltraTravel had also brought along composer Nick Wood (Heinecke’s a keen fan of Nick Wood Music, whose many works include sounds for Claridge’s spa in London).
After that, an announcement had said that those not out of the Tower by 9:30 would be entrapped. Hey, spend a night in the Tower that had seen over the centuries so many trapped involuntarily. Names that come to mind include Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and Guy Fawkes. A Protestant writer, Anne Askew, was tortured on the rack here in 1546 before being carted off to Smithfield to be burned. In 1941 Rudolf Hess was briefly held here, and the notorious identical twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray were imprisoned for refusing military service.
Courtesy of Steve Dunlop
Girlahead was among the 40-odd UltraTravel guests who couldn't get out in time. This actually turned out to be a plus, because those still there were able to look out of an upper window at the Ceremony of the Keys, the nightly 10 o’clock formal locking and unlocking of the Tower held, every night without fail since December 1340 when King Edward III arrived unannounced one evening and was furious that he could walk inside without being challenged.
Yeoman Warder Barry Stringer MBE, who had served his country for two decades as violinist in the Royal Air Force, was Beefeater in charge of the ‘held’ UltraTravelistas and explained what was happening. First the outdoor stairway was scoured from security for security. Then the 50 members of the public who had signed up and paid several weeks before to get in to view the ceremony from ground level were allowed in. The UltraTravel prisoners, however, saw it all from a bird's eye viewpoint looking down. The outside of the Tower is so well lit, one imagines that Hollywood has had a hand in it. The walkways have horizontal shafts of scarlet light, the same scarlet of the long dress coats worn by the guard of honour, who, in full bearskin busbies, march down the outside steps for the ceremony. When it was all over, the guard did an about-turn and marched back up again. Finally, one of the 35 Beefeaters who live in the Tower of London – in proper on-site houses - announced the all clear, and UltraTravel guests were freed.
The evening was, however, yet young, and many of the ultra-travelistas made their way to Pan Pacific Hotel London, where Anne Golden, a GM who thinks of everything, even offering a black jacket to a guest who left home without one, was hosting the after-party. Canapés in the Tower had been remarkably good for elegant one-biters, but Pan Pacific came up with card cones of fish and chips that were much admired - and they went very well with the after-party Champagne, which was Taittinger.
Girlahead had to make her way to bed, perchance to dream. Sorry, she can't report on what came after the after. From her point of view, however, it was an admirable event, showing the increasing power not only of UltraTravel, but the mighty Global Hotel Alliance.
