Sit with Roosevelt and Churchill

At the point where where Old Bond Street meets New Bond Street in Mayfair you can share a bench with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who have been locked in silent conversation now for more than fifteen years.


The statue, designed by Lawrence Holofcener, is known as 'Allies', and was given by the Bond Street Association to commemorate 50 years of peace. It was unveiled on 2 May 1995 by Princess Margaret.

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Infiltrate the Stafford's Wine Cellars

Your author has written about the Stafford Hotel in Mayfair before, when he visited their famous American Bar, but the hotel has another special secret. Below an old stable yard lies their 350-year-old stone wine cellar, created by Lord Francis Godolphin and, the hotel claims, home to between 18,000 and 20,000 bottles, making it one of the most complete wine collections in London.


The wines include Château Lafite Rothschild 1961 and 1976, a Château Leoville Poyferre 1978, and 'approximately 800 labels', all watched over by Master Sommelier Gino Nardella. If you are lucky, you might be able to persuade him to take you on a tour of the hotel's $1m collection, and very special guests might even get invited to dine down here.

The cellars were, your author understands, also used during the Second World War to shelter during air raids, and a collection of memorabilia from that period is also held in the cellar, as a memorial of that time.

For more information on the cellars, click here.

Drink at the Stafford's American Bar

The American Bar, at the Stafford Hotel in Mayfair, dates back to the 1930s, and since the 1970s has been the venue of an interesting tradition. Started when West End hotels began looking to the increasing American market arriving by ocean liner, it is now more famous for the tradition of guests leaving personal gifts for the hotel, which have over the years covered the walls and ceiling.


Your author popped in the other night with Rajul from London Hotel Insight, and found a spot amongst all the paraphernalia for a very pleasant drink, attended to by Benoit Provost, the head barman who has been at The Stafford for 12 years. The tradition began, we are told, when the walls were so bare that an American guest gave Benoit's predecessor a small wooden American eagle. This was duly followed by an eskimo, given by a Canadian, and a Kangaroo, given by an Australian.

Today, the bar is covered with yacht club flags, signed photographs and historical artefacts. These are kept alongside glasses which various royals have used on their visits, model aircraft from pilots who drank at the bar during the Second World War, given on their returns, and photographs of Nancy Wake, the highest decorated woman of the Second World War, who drank here when it was run by Louis Burdet, famous for his time as a leader of the French Resistance.

The only downside is the cost of drinks. This being a hotel in Mayfair, a pint is at least £5, so it's currently more like drinking in the Euro-zone than in America, and there is also the dress code - Jackets are mandatory for men. All this, and your author can't help wondering who will be the first hotel to beat the rush to designate a "Chinese Bar".

For more on the American bar, and see some better pictures, click here.