Irena Medavoy’s Vacation Diary
When one of your dearest couple friends, Lysa and Grant Heslov, move to London for the new Paramount+ series The Department, starring Michael Fassbender — which Grant and George Clooney’s company Smokehouse Pictures is producing — there is only one thing left to do. Get yourself a plane ticket.
In 10 years, I have never been able to get one ticket using air miles on the days that I needed. Not once. Didn’t believe it was possible. That is until I found David Fleming, aka The Miles Guy (who was born into Hollywood Royalty; his grandfather was famed publicist Warren Cowan). David specializes in helping people use their frequent air miles and credit card points for flights. As he puts it, “there are a lot of people who have a ton of points but don’t know how to use them effectively. That’s where I come in.” Done: British Airways first-class round trip to London.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Elon Musk Got EU Disinformation Warning Before Rambling Donald Trump Interview on X
Locarno Open Doors Program Unveils Winners, Sets New Africa Focus
From Béis to Rimowa, These Are the Best Luggage Brands For Your Next Adventure
The other part of making commercial travel as private as possible is joining P/S at LAX the experience that I promise you will become addicted to and won’t want to fly without. Thank you to my producer friend Hilary Shor — whose film The Deliverance is out on Netflix on August 30 — for telling me about P/S, which has its own private terminal at LAX and takes you by car right to your plane. I booked the Salon experience ($1,250 annual fee; then $850 per flight per person) and it was the fastest customs and TSA screening with a vibe that’s like a private members club. The service is unmatched. The hamachi was Nobu quality. I had a young talented movie star actor and his manager on my flight who were using the Salon service as well.
Once I got to London, it was time for a great reunion with Lysa and Grant. Their home is so beautiful, and every morning I went for long walks in Regent’s Park. As soon as I landed, Hilary Shor took us to Claridge’s for high tea because, well, how can you not?
The next day, Lysa and my friend Sybil Robson Orr, the philanthropist and producer, went to lunch with Ebs Burnough at Oswald’s, the private members’ club. Ebs is the board chair of the Sundance Institute and is finishing up his feature documentary on Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road. He and his husband, hedge fund manager Pierre Lagrange, have built the definition of a loving modern family. The lunch was filled with laughter and interesting discussions, including about the exciting future of Sundance as it prepares to move from Park City by 2027.
The best part of the weekend was one of Lysa’s famous Southern Sunday Suppers, with interesting conversation and the most delicious Southern fried chicken and sides that Lysa cooks herself. Among the guests was Keleigh Thomas Morgan, a partner in publicity firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis, who was in London for Wimbledon, a client.
Another reason I was in London was for the wedding of my beloved English goddaughter, actress Talulah Riley. I was her mama bear in Los Angeles, and seeing her marry actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is one of the best memories of my life. It was in the English countryside and was the most lovely and meaningful wedding I have ever attended. In a stunning 1,000-year-old church, with only family and close friends present, the most elegant bride Talulah, with an 18-inch waist, and Thomas, the equally elegant groom, became husband and wife. I witnessed a Jane Austen novel come to life. The speeches given by family members and friends were the kind that you could live on for the rest of your lives. Yes, I believe in love.
We then flew down for the weekend to the South of France, to the same place where Lysa gave Grant an unforgettable weeklong 60th birthday celebration last year. I stayed at the Hostellerie de l’Abbaye de la Celle, owned by chef Alain Ducasse who took over the property and renovated it. It was perfect, and my accommodation, the Lucrèce de Barras suite, is where General de Gaulle slept for a stay during the war and used the desk to write his correspondence. We had a marathon dance party late into the night that will stay where it should, in my dreams. The truth — as we all know in this business — is that the best memories are when you take no photos and you don’t post on social media. I can say I met Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, and we danced the night away together. He is the living embodiment of the most interesting man in the room.
On July 6, Robbie Williams played Hyde Park, which was sold out. Robbie Williams is a national treasure and his concert unfolded after powerful rains with blue skies and a full rainbow. For fans watching his story unfold onstage during the concert — in which he opened up about struggling in life with drugs or alcohol and came back happier and stronger than ever — it could make you feel that 50 is a chapter of his we want to follow. Robbie and his wife Ayda (the founder of Ayda Activewear) are close friends of mine and his love for his family is his strength. For the concert, his fans and friends flew in from all over the world, among them Colleen and Bradley Bell, Monique Lhuillier, and Elaine Irwin Penske [wife of Jay Penske, CEO of PMC, which owns THR], as well as music manager Evan Winiker, a managing partner at Range Media, who had come in for his client’s performance. Robbie is electric. You can also watch him in his eponymously titled Netflix documentary, and I dare you not to fall in love with him.
On the Friday before the concert, a lunch was given in honor of C magazine founder and Santa Barbara magazine owner Jennifer Smith by Whitney Bromberg Hawkings in her stunning home. Whitney is the CEO and founder of FlowerBX and put together a group of wonderful women including Lhuillier, Louise Roe, Allegra Hicks, Berry Bloomingdale and Alexandra Dwek to celebrate our beloved friend. Sybil and I went together to the lunch and had a great time. An award-winning American film and stage producer, Sybil moves effortlessly between the art world and the world stage. She and her husband Matthew Orr are philanthropists, who, among other things, fund art for Britains embassies, they also host a party at their home in Los Angeles every year for the Serpentine Americas Foundation just ahead of the Frieze Los Angeles art fair.
That night, Sybil and Matthew took us to took us to private establishments 5 Hertford Street and Loulou’s. Matthew, who was a major rower, met us there from the Henley Royal Regatta. That is a week where London is filled with gorgeous men dressed in their school colors and jackets recalling their competitions. We had one of those nights where the conversation never ends and closed down the 5 Hertford Street restaurant and moved down below to watch the scene unfold at LouLou’s. I danced more in Europe than I have in the past year.
After London, Lysa and I left for an adventure at Chenot Palace Weggis med spa in Switzerland. I could not wait to come to try Chenot’s location, a subject for my next column.
When I came back into London on my way home to Los Angeles, I stayed at The Dorchester and it was the perfect re-entry after my med spa. The Dorchestor Collection understands the importance of health on the road and have a Nourish and Thrive menu which was delicious and kept my health-focused lifestyle intact for the flight home. Definitely want to come back.
It’s undergoing renovations and I stayed in the Hyde Park Suite which was completely redone. The beds, sheets, pillows are heaven and the baths with their Toto toilets. (Josh Brolin recently posted about his experience with automated bidet-style toilets in London saying he felt “transformed.”)
The service at The Dorchester was impeccable and the location just can’t be beat and it also houses the best Chinese restaurant in the city, China Tang, with delicious dim sum. If you love Claridge’s and The Connaught, as my husband and I do, it’s a great alternative in London.
A version of this story first appeared in the August 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
