This is Evan Frank, VP International.  

When did you join onefinestay?

 June.

And what is it that you do?

I design and build unhotels around the world. 

Where do you live in London?

A fellow NY expat described Notting Hill to me as the ‘East Village meets Ann Arbor' (the leafy Midwestern college town where I went to university) when I was first coming over. Before even stepping foot in the neighbourhood I was sold, and after 5 years and three separate flats in Notting Hill, I'm still here. I’ve even spent time as a street trader at Portobello Market.

Where do you wish you lived in London?

In a Georgian Townhouse on Fournier Street in Whitechapel. It’s a row of amazing terraced homes built mostly in the 1720s, in the middle of E1 and a 10 minute walk east from Tayyabs for an evening curry and ladoo (past the bell foundry where the Liberty Bell was manufactured); or west for shopping at Spitalfieds market.  

What is your favourite type of tea and why?

I was never into tea before I travelled in India and had chai from the roadside stands & street cafes. After joining onefinestay, I’ve gotten into the more traditional tea and look forward to tea time every day. 

What is your favourite word?

I quite like calling British people ‘dude’. At first they don’t know how to react, but after a little while I find they really like it and start calling me ‘dude’ back. 

Evan with his 'dudes'.

When did you last get lost?

In the Lake District. I was expecting waymarked paths like in the Cotswolds. I didn’t even bring a raincoat, which in retrospect was crazy because the weather changes so quickly up there. So I got lost in a monsoon on the side of a mountain somewhere, couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me, and quite honestly was lucky to make it out by nightfall. 

What was the best experience you ever had on holiday?

Staying at the Kyrimai Hotel for a week in the Peloponnese, driving around the abandoned villages in the Mani. It’s an amazing area, eerily quiet and just totally unspoilt by tourism. But the Kyrimai is a swish hotel at the southern tip on the peninsula. 

Tell us a secret.

My gym mix features songs by Alicia Keys, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Oh and Britney Spears.