The Rhodes to peace & quiet

Super chef Gary Rhodes is a regular visitor to Dubai, and thanks to this week's Time Out interview, we already know he pours his heart and soul into every bowl of white tomato soup, and would never stick his name on a restaurant he wasn't truly involved in. His baby, Rhodes Mezzanine in Grosvenor House is a raging success... but how does this work-a-holic spend his time off?

We dug out this old chat he had with The Telegraph newspaper in London, about Gary's best and worst holiday experiences.

"Which was your best holiday?

Gary Rhodes was in a panic when his children went missing on the QE2

It was a family holiday to New York in the 1990s. We decided to make it an occasion by taking my parents with us. We stayed at Trump International Hotel&Tower, which was sensational. We had a huge suite with several bedrooms, and the hotel's chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, thoughtfully placed some tasty bites and Champagne in our suite for our arrival. We enjoyed shopping and visited some great restaurants.

And the best hotel you have stayed in?

The One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius. The hotel put us up in a private villa with its own pool and beach. On one of the days, the head chef prepared a magnificent barbecue for us on the beach, which included grilled lobster. We were there for only five days but it's definitely one of the best hotels I've stayed at.

What do you need for a perfect holiday?

Good weather, good food, plenty of Champagne and at least three weeks off to relax and enjoy myself.

What do you always take with you?

I always take some exercise bands to work out with as they're useful for when there's no gym in the hotel.

Where do you want to go next?

I would love to take my family to India. I was filming there last year and found it a fascinating country with lots of history and culture.

What's your best piece of travel advice?

Leave yourself plenty of time. There's nothing more stressful than rushing around at the last minute, or being stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the airport.

...and disasters? Which is the worst hotel you've stayed in?

Last year I had four spare days, so I decided to go to the South of France. I asked my PA, Lissanne, to book me into a five-star hotel in Nice, but they were all full. She eventually found me a fourstar, which is part of a well- known chain. It was the worst hotel I have stayed in: dirty rooms, dreadful service and awful food.

Which was your worst experience on holiday?

Thinking I had lost my two sons, then aged seven and nine, on the QE2. They had gone to eat the children's dinner at 6pm, while Jenny (his wife) and I went for a drink at the bar outside the restaurant. Afterwards, Jenny went to collect the boys and couldn't find them. After searching for them around the ship, we started to panic and alerted security, who in turn informed the captain.

Visions of them falling overboard went through our minds and we went into panic mode. After six hours they turned up, completely unaware of the panic they had caused. It turned out that they had been in the cinema watching Titanic. No one had spotted them there as it was dark and they were quite small. Needless to say, Jenny and I were delighted to see them, although they got the biggest telling off for slipping off without informing us where they had gone.

What do you avoid on holiday?

Large crowds. It's not because I'm rude and unsociable; I simply want to relax with my family and value our privacy.

What do you hate about holidays?

First, it's deciding what to take with you, then finding out when you get back that you didn't wear half the clothes you took. After the unpacking comes the washing, then catching up on the mountain of post and hundreds of emails. You almost need another holiday to get over it. "

Taken from www.telegraph.co.uk