Royal-fever has well and truly descended on London as the capital prepares to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, and you won't find anywhere better placed to immerse yourself in the atmosphere than the five-star Red Carnation Hotel Collection family-run property, The Rubens at the Palace. The site on which the hotel stands even belonged to the grounds of Buckingham Palace during the 18th century so you're almost a royal guest. The warm staff will certainly make you feel like one. If you're intending on spending most of your time out and about, the small but perfectly formed and dog-friendly Royal Themed King Rooms are a good call as they offer a bolthole no less memorable for being on the snug size; 16 square metres versus the 55 square metre Master Suite. Our red and white individually designed 'Royal Box' featured a striking Murano crystal chandelier, king-size bed (naturally), a shower room stocked with royal warrant Floris amenities (
The Travel Corporation Founder Stanley Tollman Passes, Leaving an Indelible Mark on the Industry
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Vanilla cheesecake - Creamy, velvet-smooth dessert
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Paula Stakelum, pastry chef at Ashford Castle. Photograph by: Richard Moran
Today, Stakelum works not just with this chocolate, but with a blend made specially for her by Valrhona. “The chocolate we use every day comes in as a solid block of cocoa and it’s exclusive to us, nobody else in the world has it,” she says.
There was never much doubt as to
what end of the kitchen Stakelum would end up working in. As a teenager in transition year in secondary school she did a work placement with a local hotel in Tipperary and caught the bug. After her Leaving Cert she went on to study cookery at Cork IT before moving to Galway to work at the Ardilaun Hotel and doing a BA in culinary arts, specialising in pastry at GMIT.
Both Ashford Castle and The Lodge are part of the Red Carnation collection, and the owners, Mr and Mrs Tollman, have been just fantastic. Many people think of international hotel groups as corporate behemoths, but the Tollmans take a personal interest in staff welfare and keep in regular contact. Because of their support, together with the support we have received from the Government, we have been able to retain all members of staff.
We’ve also set up a dedicated wellbeing committee and trained five staff members to become ‘mental health first aiders’. The rolling lockdowns and uncertainty that goes with opening and closing a business can really take its toll. People are living with financial worries, the challenges of home schooling and going from being really busy to having no work. I’ve found that listening to people and just chatting to them has really helped.