Winner won over by Davis

Great to see Michael Winner being treated so well by Andrew Davis, head of Von Essen hotels.

After being picked up from Scott's in Mayfair by Davis' £350,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom, the pair headed off to the hotelier's Battersea helipad, reports Winner in his Sunday Times column. 

Then "Andrew and I got into the most luxurious helicopter I've ever seen. And I've been in a few. Big plush seats, the pilot behind glass. Beautiful wooden tables and cupboards".

Winner loves it of course, and repays in kind with plenty of compliments. Davis, he says "has built up a staggeringly successful hotel company. He has 35 of the greatest hotels in Britain and one of France's best, Château de Bagnols. He has a massive fleet of helicopters. Andrew's just the sort of caring, highly energised entrepreneur it needs".

They visit Amberley Castle near Chichester, "an astoundingly lovely hotel", Ston Easton Park near Bath, "a fantastic 18th-century building" and the "very posh" Lower Slaughter Manor in Gloucestershire.

That's the way to get a good review out of the man.

Follow Von Essen's launch of its major Battersea hotel in Caterer and Hotelkeeper, with part II in January.