The Dorchester

Good hotel but I’m not sure what the hype is about.

Summary:

· Good location for West End

· Great beds and sheets

· Spotlessly clean

· Friendly front desk and doormen

· Overall decoration in rooms needs to be freshened up

· Room Service food wasn’t that good

· Breakfast was ok but a very long way off 5 stars both in terms of the food and the ambience.

A good impression, the hotel is spotless, nice lobby, doorman very helpful.

Reception staff very pleasant.

I booked a superior Queen room as I was staying for 1 night for a business meeting, it wasn’t a big room but it wasn’t bad given I wasn’t staying long. The room was in relatively good condition couple of bulbs hadn’t been replaced but bed very comfortable and sheets fantastic, quite bright and had nice B&O TV. The air con vents face the bed and some people may not necessarily like that.

Bathroom was in good condition and marble everywhere however the bath/shower over felt tired plus they had those rubber mats in the bath when you shower which is good but felt dated and I’m not sure it’s terribly hygienic really. Nice Floris toiletries and great towels.

When you enter the floor from the lift you feel like your transported back to some type of 1950s hotel in terms of décor, but not in a good way. That combined with the rooms which if you like chintz you love it here. But chintz in a 1980s Laura Ashley way. It didn’t feel elegant or bygone era, simply old really like visiting an elderly relatives house.

I ordered room service, which took slightly longer than they said it would, I wasn’t that fussed but hey its 5 star I expect it within 30mins if they tell me that’s what it will be. That wasn’t the worst part though. I felt the food wasn’t particularly good. I ordered a prawn pasts dish, frankly the prawns were well overcooked and like bullets and overall it was bland. The desert wasn’t that much better. I won’t bore you with the details suffice it to say I’ve had much better for lesser establishments.

After room service I went down to the bar but I have to say personally to me it looked like a 1980s night club, lots of black and some bright lights, again it didn’t do much for me personally but some people may love it because it’s the Dorchester.

However the final nail in the Dorchester coffin for me was the breakfast the next morning. After the room service the previous evening I decided to go down for breakfast, its held in the Dorchester Grill. Mmmm it’s a very large virtually windowless room, which has been tarted up, with some gold, tartan and a large flower display. If felt like I was eating breakfast in a well decorated conference all, it had that lack of ambience. I think it hit home particularly as it was 7.30am. Frankly I felt it quite depressing room for breakfast it just didn’t feel right at all. Perhaps it would be ok in the evening but I’m not convinced. However it’s certainly not a good place to have breakfast, the waiter served my food, which he promptly got wrong. I didn’t complain, as I didn’t see the point. I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon both which tasted again bland but given the lighting speed it arrived after I ordered it I don’t believe they made the eggs to order and that also came across in the presentation. Compared to the Connaught, which had a fabulous breakfast room and fantastic breakfast, this was no where near as good.

Overall I found my Dorchester experience quite odd, I wanted to love it, but ended up feeling sorry for it. It needs to be freshened up and someone needs to overhaul catering. Given the prices I’d rather stay in other London hotels.

We've stayed at The Dorchester before. Largely this hotel delivers in terms of the standards of it's accommodation and amenities and you can read about all of that in detail from numerous reviews elsewhere. However one thing really surprised me on our stay this past Friday. We stayed in room #130 and from 1030pm until 130am there was a pretty loud function being hosted at the ballroom downstairs. The noise was more than loud enough to prevent us from going to sleep - honestly it was pretty loud! I eventually phoned the Night Manager at 1230pm and at first he didn't know what I was talking about, then advised that the noise was towards "the upper end of their acceptable range" and that they were monitoring it, then offered for us to change rooms. I thanked him for the offer, but didn't want to get dressed, pack and move at that time of night (especially as we were leaving the next day anyway).

I think that they have a problem with sound proofing from the ballroom, and so recommend asking for a higher floor if available. My main gripe is that we were never informed that a function was going to take place and so couldn't avoid this ourselves. Not great from a hotel of this standard and price.