Top amenities: 24-hour fitness center, Italian marble bathrooms, curated art<\/p>\n
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\u2014but with a Pierre-Yves Rochon uplift. The Artists\u2019 Bar sparkles with a mirrored ceiling, Lalique crystal pillars girdling the bar, and Liberace\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Martin Brudnizki\u2019s Vesper Bar invites intimacy with its smoked glass and scalloped armchairs, and the spa (best for Dr. Uliana Gout\u2019s 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\u2019t miss the squid bolognese \u00e0 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 H\u00f4tel Plaza Ath\u00e9n\u00e9e<\/a> is the American fantasy of Paris, then this Park Lane dame\u2019s rooms are the American fantasy of Britishness\u2014one we are happy to buy into. \u2014L.B.<\/p>\n