London Hotel Guide
Standing on Park Lane since 1931, The Dorchester isn't just a hotel — it's a living piece of London's cultural and social history, now reborn after its most ambitious renovation in nearly a century.
5-Star · Mayfair · From approx. £650/night
For many travellers, choosing a luxury London hotel comes down to a handful of names. Claridge's for its art deco grandeur. The Savoy for its Thames-side theatre. The Ritz for its gilded formality. But The Dorchester occupies a category of its own — a hotel that has somehow managed to be simultaneously historic and perpetually relevant, aristocratic in character yet genuinely welcoming in atmosphere.
The recent four-year renovation — the most significant in the hotel's history — hasn't changed what The Dorchester is. It's sharpened it. Every room, suite, and public space has been thoughtfully refreshed while preserving the heritage character that makes the address worth caring about in the first place. The result is a hotel that feels both timeless and entirely of the moment.
Whether you're planning a stay, considering afternoon tea, researching a special occasion dinner, or simply curious about one of London's most storied addresses, this guide covers everything: the history, the architecture, every room and suite category, all the dining venues (including what it's actually like to eat at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair), the spa, the cultural significance, the location, and the practical details you need to book with confidence.
1850s
Before The Dorchester existed, its Park Lane site was occupied by Dorchester House — one of London's grandest aristocratic private mansions, built in the 1850s and long regarded as the most palatial private residence in the city. By the 1920s, the economics of maintaining such an estate had become untenable, and the decision was made to demolish it.
Architects William Curtis Green and Owen Williams were commissioned to design a building that would set a new standard for luxury hospitality in Britain. The brief wasn't simply to build a hotel — it was to create an institution.
18 April 1931
The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931. Its construction used reinforced concrete — a decision that would prove unexpectedly significant within a decade. The hotel was immediately celebrated for its scale, its comfort, and the sheer quality of its fittings. London's luxury hotel market had a new benchmark.
From the beginning, The Dorchester attracted a clientele that reflected its ambitions: royalty, diplomats, film stars, and the great figures of British public life.
1939–45
When war came to London in 1939, the reinforced concrete structure that had been an architectural detail became a lifesaving feature. The Dorchester was widely believed to be one of the safest buildings in the city during the Blitz — a perception that made it the gathering point for an extraordinary cast of wartime figures.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower used the hotel as his headquarters during the planning of the D-Day landings. General Omar Bradley was also based there. The Dorchester during WWII was less a hotel than a stage for history.
Post-War Renaissance
The post-war decades cemented The Dorchester's status as London's premier social address. The hotel became the natural home for the entertainment industry's most glamorous figures — Elizabeth Taylor famously stayed here repeatedly, as did Richard Burton, Marlene Dietrich, and virtually every major Hollywood star who passed through London. Through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, The Dorchester maintained its position through continuous investment and a genuine commitment to service standards that few competitors could match.
Today
Today, The Dorchester is the flagship property of the Dorchester Collection — an ultra-luxury independent group that includes Le Meurice and Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris, Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Beverly Hills, 45 Park Lane in London, and properties in Dubai and Tokyo.
The four-year renovation — completed in the early 2020s — is the most significant transformation the hotel has undergone since its opening. Every room and suite has been reimagined. Public spaces have been renewed. The Royal Suite, launched following the renovation, represents an entirely new benchmark for what the hotel can offer. Crucially, the renovation didn't attempt to reinvent The Dorchester — it restored and amplified what was already there.
A long, cream-coloured façade stretching along Park Lane, directly opposite Hyde Park. It doesn't compete for attention with the city's more flamboyant buildings. It doesn't need to. There's a composed authority to its presence on the street that feels entirely appropriate for a hotel of its standing. The building's scale is impressive without being oppressive.
The design sensibility is British in its bones — restrained, quality-obsessed, layered with references to the hotel's own history — but it's been updated with a lightness and warmth that the pre-renovation interiors sometimes lacked. Materials are luxurious without being showy. Proportions are grand but human. The overall effect is of a building that has aged beautifully and knows it.
Designed by the legendary theatre and set designer Oliver Messel in the 1950s, it remains one of the most historically significant interior spaces in any London hotel — a room that tells you something true about the relationship between theatre, fantasy, and luxury hospitality. Staying here is less like occupying a hotel room and more like inhabiting a stage set.
The long, elegant central corridor that runs through the heart of the hotel and functions as its social living room. This is where afternoon tea is served, where guests meet before dinner, where the hotel's remarkable mix of clientele is most visible. The Promenade after the renovation feels both familiar and refreshed — the best place in the hotel simply to sit and watch London's luxury world go by.
For a central London hotel, The Dorchester's outdoor spaces are a genuine asset — a rare green respite in the middle of one of the world's most densely developed cities. Combined with the direct outlook over Hyde Park, the hotel's relationship with nature is genuinely unusual for its location. It's one of the things that makes a Park View room worth the premium.
The Dorchester offers 18 distinct room and suite categories — a breadth that reflects both the hotel's scale and its ambition to serve every type of luxury traveller. All rooms share certain non-negotiables: crisp Egyptian cotton linens, feather pillows, premium bath products, and the kind of attentive housekeeping that distinguishes a true five-star hotel from one that merely calls itself one.
| Category | Approx. Size | Key Features | View | From / Night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Room | 28–35 m² | Egyptian cotton, feather pillows, premium amenities | City or courtyard | £650 |
| Superior Room | 32–40 m² | Enhanced furnishings, marble bathroom | City or courtyard | £750 |
| Deluxe Room | 38–46 m² | Upgraded décor, separate seating area | City or park | £850 |
| Executive Room | 42–52 m² | Executive floor access, lounge benefits | City or park | £950 |
| Park View Room | 35–50 m² | Direct Hyde Park views, premium floor | Hyde Park | £1,100 |
| Junior Suite | 55–75 m² | Separate living area, dining for 2 | City or park | £1,400 |
| Signature Suite | 80–120 m² | Distinct design identity, full living room | Park or city | £2,500 |
| Regal Suite | 130+ m² | Elevated specification, butler service | Park | £3,500 |
| Garden Terrace Suite | 110+ m² | Private terrace access | Garden/park | £3,200 |
| Oliver Messel Terrace Suite | 130+ m² | Historic Messel design, terrace | Park/garden | POA |
| The Royal Suite | 300+ m² | Post-renovation flagship, full residential | Hyde Park | POA |
All rates are indicative and subject to seasonal variation. Check dorchestercollection.com for current availability.
The entry-level categories deliver the Dorchester standard in a more compact format. For guests whose priority is the address, the dining, and the service rather than the room itself, these represent the most accessible entry point into a Dorchester stay. From £650.
Park View rooms look directly over Hyde Park — 350 acres of green space that, from a high floor on a clear morning, make central London feel improbably serene. Worth it? Honestly, yes — particularly in spring or summer. From £1,100.
Meaningful upgrades in space and appointment without stepping into named suite territory. The rooms that make most sense for guests celebrating an anniversary or milestone birthday. From £1,400.
Each carries a distinct design identity rooted in London geography and the hotel's own history. The right choice for guests who want a genuinely residential feel: proper living spaces, room to breathe, and the sense that the hotel is working around your needs. From £2,500.
The Regal Suite occupies a tier above the Signature Suites in both scale and specification. The Garden Terrace Suite offers something relatively rare on Park Lane: direct private access to outdoor terrace space. A compelling proposition for warm-weather stays. From £3,200.
Designed in the 1950s by the celebrated theatre designer Oliver Messel, this suite is, in the truest sense, a work of art that happens to be bookable. One of the most distinctive hotel rooms in London, full stop. Price on application.
Launched following the landmark renovation, The Royal Suite represents The Dorchester's most ambitious statement of intent — 300+ m² of unrivalled space, bespoke service, and the kind of address that requires no further explanation. Price on application.
Flexible early check-in and late check-out are available across all room categories — a practical benefit worth confirming at the time of booking.
Very few hotels in the world — let alone in London — can claim a dining ecosystem of the depth and quality that The Dorchester has assembled. Multiple distinct venues and experiences, ranging from a three-Michelin-starred restaurant to a poolside pastry counter, make the hotel's food and drink offering a destination in its own right.
Three Michelin Stars
Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester holds three Michelin stars — making it one of only a handful of restaurants in London to hold that distinction, and the only three-star restaurant housed within a hotel on Park Lane. The restaurant's aesthetic is deliberately restrained: a neutral palette, a fibrous 'chandelier' of 4,500 hand-blown glass bubbles that defines the room, and a sense of calm that lets the food do its work.
Chef Jean-Philippe Blondet leads the kitchen with a menu that is resolutely French in technique but genuinely seasonal and ingredient-led in practice. Expect a meal to run to £150–£250 per person before wine. Booking well in advance is essential; tables — particularly on weekends — are among the most sought-after in the city.
"This is not a restaurant for a casual Tuesday dinner. It's for the kind of meal you'll still be talking about in five years."
Reimagined as a contemporary British dining destination, The Grill draws on the best of British produce: aged beef, seasonal game, exceptional fish — prepared with a confidence and precision that the old Grill occasionally lacked. The setting is warmer and more relaxed than Alain Ducasse, making it the better choice for a business dinner where you need to actually have a conversation, or for a celebratory meal where you want the food to be exceptional but the atmosphere genuinely enjoyable rather than reverential.
China Tang is one of London's most visually spectacular restaurant spaces — a 1930s Art Deco interior that feels like stepping into a film set from a lost golden age. The Cantonese cuisine is serious and accomplished, with dim sum at lunch and a full menu at dinner that draws on classical Cantonese technique without feeling museum-bound. A dim sum lunch here is a genuinely reasonable luxury, and one that gives you the full China Tang experience without the dinner price tag.
Afternoon tea at The Dorchester is one of London's defining experiences. The setting is The Promenade, with its soaring proportions and constant, elegant hum. The menu follows the classic tiered structure: delicate finger sandwiches, warm scones with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve, and exceptional handcrafted pastries. Around 30 tea varieties, a tea sommelier on hand, approximately 90 minutes, smart casual dress code.
Booking is essential — this is consistently one of the most sought-after afternoon tea reservations in London, and walk-ins are rarely possible.
Vesper Bar — a sleek, sophisticated space named after the Bond cocktail — is the destination for serious cocktail drinkers. The bartenders here are among the best in London, and the list rewards exploration beyond the obvious choices.
Artists' Bar has a more nostalgic character, its walls hung with portraits of the entertainers and cultural figures who have made The Dorchester their London home over the decades.
The Snug is exactly what it sounds like: a more intimate, private space suited to conversations you don't want overheard.
For special occasions, the hotel offers a series of private and immersive dining formats that go well beyond a standard restaurant booking.
A full range of luxury treatments — facials, massages, body treatments, specialist therapies — delivered by therapists who are, by consistent guest account, genuinely expert. Individual treatments typically £120–£350. Day spa packages available. Open to non-guests; certain facilities may be reserved for hotel guests at peak times.
53 Park Lane, Mayfair — directly opposite Hyde Park's 350 acres of green space. Nearest tubes Hyde Park Corner and Green Park (Piccadilly line), both ~5 minutes' walk. Bond Street a 10-minute walk; Mount Street closer still. Mayfair galleries, private members' clubs, art dealers and jewellers within the hotel's immediate catchment.
Google ~4.7/5 across several thousand reviews. Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star. Top-tier TripAdvisor ranking. Guests consistently praise anticipatory service, the Hyde Park location, and dining. A genuine note: recurring criticisms focus on the entry-level room categories, where some guests feel the size-to-price ratio is less compelling than at suite level.
The practical answers to the questions readers actually search for — from best rate to nearest tube.
The Dorchester is, by any honest measure, one of the world's great hotels. Nearly a century of history, a Mayfair address that remains London's most prestigious, three Michelin stars under its roof, 18 room and suite categories from the accessible to the extraordinary, and a renovation that has ensured the next hundred years begin as well as the last ones ended.
It isn't the cheapest way to experience London's luxury hotel scene. But then, it was never meant to be. What The Dorchester offers — and what the renovation has reinforced — is an experience that combines genuine historical depth with contemporary excellence in a way that its competitors, however excellent, simply don't replicate. Claridge's has its art deco perfection. The Savoy has the Thames. The Dorchester has Hyde Park on one side and Mayfair on the other, a dining programme that would be exceptional even without the Michelin stars, and a service culture refined across nearly ninety-five years of practice.
For history seekers, architecture enthusiasts, serious food lovers, or anyone planning a stay that will genuinely be remembered: this is the hotel.
