Top amenities: 24-hour fitness center, Italian marble bathrooms, curated art
Not to be outdone by arrivistes thudding onto the top-end scene, the Dorch has been shaking her tail feathers since 2023, when it unveiled its biggest refurb in three decades: public spaces supercharged, and two floors of new rooms and suites revealed. The hotel where Elizabeth Taylor signed her Cleopatra contract in the bath remains out-and-out fabulous—but with a Pierre-Yves Rochon uplift. The Artists’ Bar sparkles with a mirrored ceiling, Lalique crystal pillars girdling the bar, and Liberace’s mirrorball-clad baby grand. This is the spot for caviar, native oysters, and Petal Head cocktails (Stoli Elit vodka, kumquat, Aperol, and passion fruit) served from a trolley.
Martin Brudnizki’s Vesper Bar invites intimacy with its smoked glass and scalloped armchairs, and the spa (best for Dr. Uliana Gout’s medical-grade facials) is a pink girly haven. The Grill by Tom Booton, a fun slice of British culinary theater, has a fresh menu; don’t miss the squid bolognese à la Koffmann, given the tick of approval by Pierre Koffmann himself. The suites have the palettes of an English garden, in leaf green, rose, and heather. If Hôtel Plaza Athénée is the American fantasy of Paris, then this Park Lane dame’s rooms are the American fantasy of Britishness—one we are happy to buy into. —L.B.
Address: 53 Park Ln, London W1K 1QA
Closest tube station: Marble Arch