"Life doesn't always allow ambitions to be fulfilled. It is one thing to find the perfect building and location, but actually to acquire it is often less easy for the independent operator. When in 2008 the opportunity to secure Wimperis & Simpson's beautiful 1926 building was offered up, we were gratified the Grosvenor Estate had the foresight to award us the scheme. Six years later the dream became reality and The Beaumont opened September 30th 2014.

"The dilemma with any new or refurbished hotel is to determine what will give it the 'heart and soul' that will engender a sense of belonging and comfort in a guest, over and above the requisite physical comforts. Chris and I have always believed the foundation of great restaurants is when the restaurateur creates somewhere they would like to eat themselves and the same applies, I feel, to the hotelier. And whilst you will find many features at The Beaumont informed by my own personal taste and idiosyncrasies, at the heart of the hotel is a sense of history to match the 1926 building: the fictional James 'Jimmy' Beaumont becomes an architectural leitmotif which haunts the corridors of what I imagine to have been a hotel created by a hotelier escaping the constrictions of Prohibition-shackled New York.

"This is a hotel with an old-world aesthetic and values, firmly underpinned by 21st century advances in technology and comfort. If you see me in the lobby, please do not hesitate to ask me to tell you more…"