Three Days in London with the Kids

Contributing editor Christina Ohly has been traveling to London with her kids since they were infants. She knows how to mix parent- and kid-approved museums, shops, restaurants, and hotels.

LONDON – London is one of the — if not the best — cities to visit with kids. Here are highlights for all ages, palates, and interests, with South London as a base for exploring central London and the outskirts.

DAY 1 - Science and Nature

Gone are the days of exploring the Elgin Marbles at a leisurely pace, so don't even pretend. Keep your museum visits real by starting in South Kensington at the incomparable Science Museum, which is full of interactive exhibits, steam turbines, space capsules, and the most imaginative water play area ever.

Next, head down the block to the Natural History Museum, an architectural marvel in and of itself. Children will never tire of the dinosaurs, and the endless diamonds are a nice diversion for grown-ups. Refuel nearby at Wagamama, where udon noodles, soups, and the requisite "chicken tenders" are served at festive communal tables in a light, airy setting.

After a little sustenance, go into Kensington Gardens and follow signs to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. The enclosed area is great for kids of all ages, with everything from baby swings to a massive pirate ship with rope ladders and secret hiding places. Cool off with a soft-serve cone within the playground before exploring the rest of heavenly Hyde Park by bicycle or on foot. (The English really do excel at public gardens.) Swans, geese, and ducks provide entertainment, and you can rent old-timey lawn chairs for the balance of the afternoon. If energy/attention spans allow, pop into the Serpentine Gallery mid park for a quick shot of contemporary art in a classical setting.

DAY 2 - Toys and Museums

Sometimes with kids you just need to go with it. Legoland in nearby Windsor is one such example. Your kids will love you and they will be re-energinized for all the cultural events you'll throw at them for the rest of your journey. The incredibly fun park is a hit with ages 3+, and, at just 40 minutes from London, you can pack quite a few rides, sweet treats, and general amusement into a half-day.

Once back in the city center, head to the Tower of London for its rich history of beefeaters, guillotines, dark prisons, and the Crown Jewels. It gets crowded, so visit at off-peak to avoid the masses and pre-order tickets. From here, you're across the river from the Embankment and the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern museums. Depending on the show, I've found the Modern, which is housed in an enormous former factory, is more kid-centric. The sheer spaces, enormous escalators, and colorful art installations will captivate virtually everyone, and a snack overlooking the river in the ground floor cafe is a plus.

DAY 3 - Gardens and Shops

The best parts of London for kids are parks, playgrounds, and wonderful restaurants. Very small children will enjoy a quiet romp in St. Luke's playground in Chelsea and everyone will love a tour through the Chelsea Physic Garden, one of London's oldest botanic gardens. For lunch, have wood-fired pizzas outdoors at the Chelsea Gardener if weather permits or fish and chips indoors at Tom's Kitchen at Chelsea Green. Other Chelsea highlights include the grounds of the Royal Hospital for running free and the National Army Museum, which has an interactive, indoor play space. (For more info, read the Fathom Postcard about the pensioners at the Royal Hospital.)

No trip would be complete without a visit to the sprawling toy shop spread across an entire floor at Harrod's. You'll find everything from Union Jack memorabilia to Barbies to wooden building blocks. Spend the rest of the day soaking in local, small neighborhood color: the bakeries, the butcher, the "ironmonger" (aka the hardware store). Have a light supper at Itsu, where kids delight in picking tapas-style sushi plates from a conveyor belt: chicken teriyaki skewers, sashimi, white chocolate mousse and berries. The techno-vibe makes for the perfect mix of food and theater.

BEST FAMILY HOTELS

I am no fan of central London hotels with kids (unless you're living large and want to load it up at Claridge's). I prefer one of these quiet, kid-friendly establishments with green spaces and green grocers nearby.

MyHotel Chelsea - Slightly mod, low-key, and absolutely well-placed near Chelsea Green.

The Baglioni Hotel - It overlooks Kensington Palace and Gardens which makes it perfect for families - and anyone in search of green space. The incomparably cool Princess Diana playground is just steps away, and the hotel's newly redone Natura Bisse spa makes for a Zen escape at day's end. Spacious suites and Italian warmth and hospitality are all pluses. 

Milestone Hotel - Hyde Park is your backyard when staying in one of the spacious suites and quirky, chintz-filled apartments on on Kensington High Street. It works well for families and the Stables Bar, a cozy clubhouse restaurant straight out of a Ralph Lauren ad, serves excellent Wagyu burgers with buckets of crispy fries. 

Knightsbridge Hotel - One of the Firmdale hotels on a quiet square steps from Brompton Road, Hyde Park, and Beauchamp Place. (Having a Pizza Express nearby is always a plus.)

The Berkeley - It has a rooftop pool. Enough said. And it's near Hyde Park, Harrods, and Yo Sushi! at the top of Harvey Nichols.

The Sloane Square Hotel - This one has family rooms — a rarity in the UK and Europe — where four can fit semi-comfortably. Well-situated to Peter Jones (department store where you'll inevitably end up after having forgotten some key piece of equipment) and the King's Road. Proximity to the Duke of Yorks Square is a plus.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Check out the London Guide for more hotels, restaurants, shops, and itineraries.

MAP IT

See all the locations in this story. (Google Maps)

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

Checking In: London's New Hotels
London According to Jeremy Goring, the Queen's Hotelier
Little Black Book: NOTED's Favorite London Spots

Photos, from top: courtesy of Science Museum; courtesy of Tower of London; walden_69 / Flickr; courtesy of The Berkeley.

Around the World with Designer Tara Bernerd

The British designer on her new office in New York and where she'd like to go next.

Tara Bernerd creates cinematic, welcoming spaces with raw materials. That’s her specialty. It’s what has endeared the British designer to a growing international client base that includes the Thompson and Sixty hotel groups, Belgraves, Aspinalls, and as of next year, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The former film student draws inspiration from a diverse array of sources—from Tim Burton to Luis Barragán—and from her offices in Belgravia, London’s toniest neighborhood, Bernerd oversees a growing staff of architects and designers who help realize the environments she conceives.

Bernerd’s foray into the hospitality space is no happy accident: She is the daughter of international property tycoon Elliott Bernerd, whose own investments have included the Westbury hotels, Wentworth Golf Club, and, most recently, the Philip Johnson-designed AT&T building in New York. Not the type to sail through life on her privilege, Bernerd left school at the age of 16 and worked her way into interior design via stints at British Vogue and in marketing and PR, before connecting with John Hitchcox, the cofounder of global property design firm Yoo. Working with Hitchcox and his partner, Philippe Starck, Bernerd helped to launch its boutique practice, Yoo Too, before moving on to found her eponymous firm in 2002.

Beginning as a small organization focused on private and residential work, Tara Bernerd & Partners has since grown to include hotels, yachts, restaurants, and mixed-use spaces, with projects currently under way from Hong Kong to Hollywood. Bernerd delights in the diversity of her firm’s output, including textile designs for The Rug Company and interior architecture and design for Herzog & de Meuron’s forthcoming 472-unit residential tower in Canary Wharf.

What’s next for the peripatetic Bernerd, who spends more than half the year on the road?  World hotel and residential domination, it seems, with even more aspirational-yet-approachable spaces slated for Central Park South, Shanghai, and Scandinavia in the months ahead. Later this fall she’ll open a New York office to accommodate an increasingly large U.S. market for her serene, slightly edgy environments. Surfacerecently met with Bernerd at her Hans Street headquarters to discuss the need for beautiful art and bold use of color when establishing a special sense of place, and the importance of good food, acoustics, and lighting.

You worked with Philippe Starck and developer John Hitchcox to launch Yoo Too.  How did this come to be?

Early in my career I received some press and the attention of a few people in the industry, including John Hitchcox. I went to work for him and became a partner, collaborating with Philippe on all of the design, but I was also scouting for new locations all over the world. It was an incredible time for me personally, and also in terms of what was happening in global hotel design. The mantra had always been “location, location, location,” and the focus has shifted to “location, location, design.”

You founded your eponymous firm in 2002. What spurred you on? 

It was partly instinctive and partly personal, but I am a full-on, one-way person, so doing my own company after Yoo felt like a natural progression. I didn’t sit down and write a business plan, but I found an office and made sure that I had at least one client so that I could pay the rent. We had two architects and a temp to answer phones when we got our first two projects. The first came from [founder of the Berkeley Group] Tony Pidgley, who’s one of the biggest developers in the U.K. He gave me a job redesigning an old telephone exchange. The second project came from gallerist Jay Jopling. We worked on his first Shoreditch space. I started the firm hoping that what I loved doing would look good enough for others to like it—taste is so subjective, after all. Initially we did more private, residential work, and now we’re very strong in commercial, loft buildings, towers, and projects like the one we’re doing with Herzog & de Meuron at Canary Wharf.

You studied at London Film School. How does that time inform your design practice?

Because of my training, I see everything in shot form. I storyboard all of my projects, and much like making a film, my property design projects require many different, skillful, creative people. Every hotel is a team effort between the architect, the landscaper, the chefs. Like the film business, where you have your directors, producers, and cinematographers, there is just so much to the show. You want a hotel or restaurant to look great, sure, but at the end of the day it’s got to make money. And in our case, the hotel rooms need to be filled.

Who have been your mentors or the people who inspire you?

Richard Rogers has been an amazing driving force of encouragement throughout my career. In terms of others whose work I admire and have had an impact on me: Tadao Ando for his use of raw materials, and Pierre Chareau, particularly his Maison de Verre in Paris. His use of metals, rubber flooring, and glass in the 1930s was just incredible. Tim Burton is another strong influence.

Do you have a signature style? 

People describe our work as “industrial chic,” but I don’t think we have a signature look. We are about what’s appropriate to an environment, though there are common threads throughout our work. I prefer monotone colors, concrete, metals, lacquer, and raw materials that are a bit edgy. I’m about a more handsome design rather than a pretty, girly look. A huge amount of warmth comes from our work because we layer spaces. Our vibe is strong.

Who are your clients? 

Our current projects include the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale, which is a combination of a resort, restaurants, and private homes. We’re working on the new Thompson Hotel in Hollywood, as well as the Russell Hotel in London for Barry Sternlicht and Starwood Capital Group, and we’re about to start projects in Hong Kong and Stockholm as well. A new project for Sixty is in the cards. In general, we have a lot of repeats because we get on well with people.

How do you approach restaurant design?

We’ve designed a few stand-alone restaurants and also ones that are part of a hotel, and in either case both acoustics and lighting are hugely important. Beyond aesthetics, however, the most important piece is the cuisine. Ideally, we know who the chef is from the outset so we know the environment we’re trying to create for the type of food to be served. It’s about working with the menus, the essence of the place, and the bar. We can do an amazing design and you can get away with a lot if the food isn’t great, but when the staff clicks, the uniforms are just right, and the music is perfect—that makes for a winning restaurant.

What has been the biggest challenge in terms of a project?

I worked with the stylish Aaron Leyland on Belgraves, and for some reason the builders put up ugly brick walls just before the opening night. I walked in and saw the bricks and declared, “We can’t open like this! It has to be sandblasted!” They were too red, too smooth, and the grout was terrible. Aaron sandblasted every wall, at great expense. Truthfully, I don’t know a project that doesn’t have a challenge.

What trends are you seeing in travel, and in the hotel space in particular? 

People want warmth, a residential feel, from hotels. I love the Edition in South Beach, and Sixty is my home in New York—they take care of me, so the people make the experience. Art is terribly important, and people like Aby Rosen have been able to bring a high level into play. I think people want simple technology. They don’t want to be shown how to use their rooms. Even if something is very modern, they want a sense of association, a lounge area to drink a coffee or have a club sandwich. And this is evolving. Hotels play an enormous role today. They’re not just where we go on holiday, or to visit cities, but they are the homes of tomorrow.

What makes a great hotel a “home of tomorrow?”

Today there are so many nomads—single people, divorcées—that hotels are a home away from home, with many people choosing to leave a case for regular stays. It’s not just about design. A great hotel has to smell good, the concierge has to be top-notch, the uniforms have to be aesthetically pleasing, and the food is important, too. It’s a big melting pot of vulnerability: Hotels are in the mega-challenge league of design because everything has to work perfectly.

Who is nailing it now?

Ilse Crawford with Ett Hem Stockholm. It’s basically a private home we can stay in. The Villa TreVille in Positano is another example of perfection. These are both 12 to 15 rooms done by people who can afford to do them as they would their own residences. Yabu Pushelberg does great hotel design work now, as does David Collins Studio in the restaurant space.

With so many far-flung projects, how do you keep your work and life in balance? 

I travel half the year, so some would say that that isn’t very balanced, but I am passionate about my work. I’m a good traveler, and I don’t get jet lag. I balance my work with nature: I hike in the mountains on the weekends, where the views are epic, and I walk my dogs. When I’m in Miami I get up early, run on the beach, dive in the ocean, and go to work. I have terrific friends and family and this helps a lot. Work trips with my team are a pleasure, so this keeps me in balance.

What’s next for you?

I really enjoy working in the U.S., and it’s why I’ve committed to opening an office in New York. I want to continue working in the U.K., Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. And who wouldn’t want to go to Cuba?

A Mallorca Sonnet

My idea of a great escape: an exquisite, boutique hotel with amazing food tucked away in a quiet, European village with nary an obnoxious tourist in site. Oh, it needs to be easily accessible — no complicated airplane connections or endless drives for my family. A tall order? Not at Gran Hotel Son Net in the mountain village of Puigpunyent just outside of Palma, Mallorca, otherwise known as my little slice of heaven.

Let's just say that Son Net had me at hola. The finca, which dates from 1672 and still has its original well and patio, is set in the Tramuntana hills and mountains a 20-minute ride from the airport. When you arrive at the 31-room villa, you feel like you're walking into a friend's house party, all warm welcomes and refreshing drinks. 

The villa has been lovingly restored using local wood, stone, and Spanish tile. My kids love the rambling gardens and architecture. The decor is old-school Mediterranean but mod: Luxe fabrics and heavy furnishings mix with contemporary pieces by David Hockney and Frank Stella.

With kids, it's all about the pool, and Son Net's is spectacular. Grown-ups seeking shelter (from the sun or from their squealing children) can opt for a minimalist cabana as kids frolic in the shallow, refreshing water (warning: summer temps are a killer). Everyone will love lunch at Gazebo, a casual patio restaurant overlooking town. The ingredients are locally sourced, and kids are welcome to explore the hotel's vegetable garden. Most impressively, the chef prepares dishes that not only expand your child's palate but are also acceptable to her palate. 

After a long day spent doing very little — you could borrow hotel bicycles to explore the surrounding area, or you could just have a massage — it will be time to hit the bar. I recommend booking a kind, competent sitter through the concierge (our was a young Spanish mother who spoke three languages and thoroughly entertained our niños) and repairing downstairs for a glass of local red wine (Priorato, Somontano, Ribera del Duero, Rioja are all wonderful). Vaulted stone ceilings, brocade curtains...it’s all very conquistador. 

You'll then head to the hotel's insanely good — but decidedly not kid-friendly — Oleum Restaurant. Ask to be seated outside for your feast of inventive takes on Mallorcan favorites, like local lobster caldereta (stew) with sopes bread. After numerous courses, you'll sleep like a baby in your sizable four-poster bed. With those perfectly pressed linens.

The ideal stay here is three days — enough time to explore the countryside, visit the nearby Parque La Reserva Aventura, go for a sail, and hit the beach for a change of scene. Any more than that, and you could easily slip into a vacation coma. You’ve been warned.  

Find It

Gran Hotel Son Net 
C/ Castillo de Sonnet s/n - 07194
Puigpunyent, Mallorca, Spain
+34-971-147-000
info@sonnet.es 

Parque La Reserva Aventura
Predio Son Net s/n
07194 Puigpunyent
Balearic Islands, Spain
+34-971-728-786 
info@lareservamallorca.com 

Summer in Watch Hill, Rhode Island

Christina Ohly has lived with her husband and two children in New York City and London, and has never been shy about shipping her crew to the far corners of the globe in search of memorable sights and tastes. So we never expected that, come summer, she's at her happiest so close to her American home in Rhode Island, the small state that delivers big.

WATCH HILL, Rhode Island – There is no place more beautiful in the summer than New England. Period, full stop. 

The quaint seaside town of Watch Hill is the ultimate in pure, awesome Americana, from outstanding displays of true prep and lighthouses to killer lobster rolls and the best homemade black raspberry ice cream (a seasonal RI speciality). Located on a peninsula on Block Island Sound and surrounded by water on all sides, Watch Hill is perfect for sailing, body surfing, and exploring the village's gorgeous "cottages" (who do they think they're fooling?) by bicycle.

WHERE TO STAY

The Ocean House recently underwent a multi-million reno and is now getting up to speed on the service front. But this place is lovely and well located old-world fun. Overlooking the beach and the picturesque village, the Ocean House is the only Relais & Chateau-esque game in town. The sweet college student staffers will happily book boat rides, fishing trip, and cool activities for kids.

A less pricey option is Watch Hill Inn on the bay. Accommodations are more like condos, and the kitchenettes make this a great choice for families, as does the proximity to the carousel and public beach.

WHAT TO EAT

Pack a picnic from the Cooked Goose and order the locals' favorite sandwich, W. H. 15, a ham, cheese, and carmelized onion treat named after a type of old sailboat found only in this area. The Goose stocks great basics like BLT with thick-cut bacon on freshly baked bread, as well as upscale offerings like lobster salad, lemon/herb cappellini, and chewy molasses and chocolate chip cookies. 

Other great bets: Aunt Carrie's for lobster in the rough: Bridge for fresh seafood, vegetarian options aplenty, and the riverfront view; and PizzaPlace Westerly for gourmet pies with shrimp and artichoke in an old converted mill.

Drinks at dusk on the enormous, sweeping porch at Ocean House are a must. You'll have upscale takes on New England faves for hors d'ouevres. The phenomenal sunsets are free.

WHERE TO PLAY

At risk of stating the obvious, go to the beach. East Beach, with its formidable surf, is the quintessential summer stop, though it's not great for kids under two. Pack a picnic, take in the views from the bluff (ah, that picture-perfect lighthouse), and stroll along the endless coast toward Weekapaug. Watch Hill's central carousel (pause for a moment of charm: It's the oldest continually operating one in the US) is old-school fun, as are milkshakes from St. Clair Annex just down the street. Walk out to Napatree Point, a half-mile long sandspit with remnants of a fort from the Spanish-American War, to ponder the passing boats and Fisher's Island in the distance.

WHAT TO SEE

If fun in the sun gets to be too much (it could happen), head indoors for a little culture. At the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, kids learn about Native peoples from hands-on exhibits, dancing, and life-size dioramas. Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck is a great place to catch a show. If you want to go farther afield, you can spend the day at WaterFire Providence, the summer river festival/exhibit 40 minutes away, or wander the nearby towns of Stonington and Wickford, Connecticut, for the quaint streets, fishing history, and delicious foodie finds. 

MAP IT

See the locations for this trip. (Google Maps)