Breaking Travel News

The Dorcester unveils renovation programme


The Dorchester lobby

The Dorchester is one of the world’s most recognised and acclaimed hotels. Perfectly situated in the heart of London since 1931, this vibrant hotel stands tall in Mayfair with Hyde Park on its doorstep.

The Dorchester has engaged with the most renowned names in design and architecture to transform the hotel: Pierre-Yves Rochon is redesigning the hotel entrance, The Promenade, new Cake & Flowers boutique, and the guest rooms and suites; and Martin Brudnizki Design Studio has been appointed to redesign the bar.


The Dorchester main bar, Martin Brudnizki Design Studio

With decades spent fine-tuning a tradition of placing guests at the centre of everything, The Dorchester has found a way to be true to its celebrated past whilst becoming fluent in what matters in an ever-changing world. By cultivating and encouraging sophistication without snobbery, style without excess, and curiosity without judgement, this remarkable hotel embraces its next chapter as the London home from home for those who make the world turn.

ADVERTISEMENT


Rooms by Pierre-Yves Rochon

Rooms and suites
Pierre-Yves Rochon’s vision presents light, fresh and thoughtfully composed rooms and suites designed in varying colourways inspired by an English garden, from pale leaf green and rose fog pink, to heather blue and lemon yellow. New signature and junior suites will be introduced, allowing for spacious and more residential style accommodation for guest comfort.

On arrival
The Dorchester’s famous façade has been a prominent landmark of this dynamic international city for over nine decades. New lighting will rejuvenate the exterior, creating a welcoming glow across Park Lane. Guests will arrive onto an enhanced forecourt, featuring a beautiful green granite underfoot and a landscaped, verdant garden area located underneath the renowned plane tree.

The arrival experience will extend into an open lobby, flooded with natural light and bookended by two imposing artworks. Both are truly distinctive, yet each work connects with the other through their celebration of The Dorchester’s prized position, anchored in the landscape since 1931.


The Promenade bar

The Promenade
The Promenade will capture guests’ imagination as they move beyond the lobby into the heart of the hotel and the setting for vibrant dining experiences, including The Dorchester’s afternoon tea. A new destination will be unveiled towards the end of The Promenade, a glamorous and sparkling area for fun and frivolous evenings of Champagne, seafood and entertainment.

An original collection of contemporary artworks by British artists will be revealed throughout The Promenade. The pieces, uniquely individual and crossing a range of diverse media and techniques, all offer a new take on nature and have been created to evoke the sensation of strolling through a perfectly curated and cultivated British landscape.


Martin Brudnizki’s bar

The Bar
Martin Brudnizki is redesigning the hotel’s legendary cocktail institution. Here guests will encounter a bar with movie star looks and a supporting cast of talented bartenders ready to curate evenings of mature fun.

The bar’s new interior is inspired by the spirit and elegance of the roaring thirties, a time when manners were still important and yet mayhem was celebrated. The new layout allows for a dedicated Park Lane entrance and an outside terrace with views towards Hyde Park. Ornate design runs throughout the bar, including a 1930s Palladium leaf ceiling creating a warm effect as Martini hour transitions into the evening. An upper area of the bar and cosy ‘snug’ provide more privacy without compromising on the atmosphere.

A series of Cecil Beaton pieces will hang within the bar to honour a long-standing connection between the photographer and designer and the hotel, and to remind guests of this glamorous decade. Some of Beaton’s original drawings and celebrity photography will be brought together with work by contemporary artists, such as Rosie Emmerson, who were inspired by both Beaton and the energy of that time.


The Dorchester suite

Cake & Flowers boutique
With its own entrance on the Deanery Street corner of the hotel, Cake & Flowers, is an entirely new offering to entice the curious and sophisticated. Feature windows will come alive with captivating masterpieces that showcase the passion and mastery of in-house designer florist, Philip Hammond, and executive pastry chef, Michael Kwan. Within, shelves and cases will be filled with lively delights; signature pastries and cakes to take away, uniquely presented gift hampers, floral bouquets and a selection of Champagnes and artisan chocolates.

The Dorchester will be ready to reveal its new interiors as of early September 2022. The hotel remains open for guests throughout the renovation with its popular afternoon tea served in the beautiful Orchid Room and a Mediterranean concept at The Dorchester Rooftop throughout the summer. As The Grill, Alain Ducasse and China Tang completed refurbishments in recent years; they will continue to remain open as normal, as will The Dorchester Spa.  The Ballroom, with its own entrance on Park Lane, the magically theatrical Penthouse & Pavilion, and the Chef’s Table continues to be available for corporate and social events.

The Dorchester was voted World’s Leading Landmark Hotel 2018 at World Travel Awards.