The Dorchester is divine

The Dorchester Grill

Dressed in twin-set and pearls, she tutted as she walked past. A woman in her 70s, she looked my way and muttered: “I don’t know what the Dorchester is coming to, I really don’t. My mother would be appalled.”

My faux-pas? My arms were resting on the breakfast table.

Now my mother would also be appalled but the pensioner with a stickler for table manners had got it right. This was The Dorchester, an elegant hotel with an impressive history and certain standards, and I quickly whipped my hands back on to my lap.

Feeling the colour rise in my cheeks, I realised that The Dorchester stands for many things which are passing us by in a world where fast food reigns, supermarkets are open 24 hours a day, people text while they talk, eat while they walk and quality and customer service are sometimes hard.

It is an oasis of luxury and elegance in a fast-moving capital city, which has moved with the times enough to offer 42 inch flat-screen televisions in your suite but serves afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches, minus the crusts.

Afternoon tea, like breakfast, is served in The Promenade, a lobby on the ground floor, where potted palms and towering fountains of flower plants surround plush couches and marble columns the colour of apricots.

But this hotel isn’t just grand … it’s an institution. For more than 70 years, it has played host to the noble and the noteworthy – General Eisenhower helped plan the Normandy Invasion from his suite and Prince Philip hosted his bachelor’s party on the eve of his wedding to the Queen at the Park Suite.

Of course, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a multi-millionaire, a star of the big screen or like us, a pair of 30-somethings celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary.

Consistently ranked as one of the world’s best hotels, we were thrilled to be spending a night there, with dinner in the famous Dorchester Grill and a visit to the £3.2 million revamped Dorchester Spa.

It was one of the hottest days of the year and as we were shown to our suite on the seventh floor (apparently booked out almost in its entirety by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt when they arrived in London for the Baftas this year), we were gasping for a cup of tea.

Within minutes, in rolled in the trolley complete with its Wedgewood bone china cups, silver teapot and home-made biscuits.

Our suite was chintz, heavy brocade and luxurious with a lounge, dining table to seat ten, the biggest bath I’ve ever seen (the tubs are specially imported and are some of the deepest in the world) and a four-poster bed.

It was about as far away from chic and contemporary as you can get. It was comfortable and traditionally English.

Which is perhaps why we weren’t prepared for the tartan-explosion of The Grill. Designed by Thierry Despont to reflect the Scottish ancestry of the Dorchester’s original owners, it does have something of a shortbread-biscuit box on a grander scale about it.

Huge murals of men in kilts watch over you as you eat beautiful food which looks like a picture on a plate, if you can tear your eyes away from the check seats and carpets which can’t help but overwhelm.

Luckily, new chef Brian Hughson’s food is attractive enough to divert the eye and tickle the palate with a modern British menu offering timeless classics as well as the restaurant’s traditional grills.

My goat’s cheese and potato with roasted quince and spiced pear dressing was delicious and subtle while the husband of a decade went for poached chicken with smoked mackerel ravioli and brown bread sauce, which was, I also declared, a delight after sticking my fork in.

My main of lobster casserole was a perfectly cooked dish of lobster tail and claw with spring vegetables served with a bisque poured at the table. Unfortunately the Welsh Black rib eye steak on the other side of the table didn’t live up to expectations.

When you plump for something as simple as a steak, you expect it to be one of the best pieces of meat you’ve ever tasted. Served medium rare, it was a little over-done and lacked flavour.

Dessert was redeeming with a perfect mint and chocolate parfait with fresh mint sorbet.

We shared it, mainly because I love my food and was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to manage breakfast the next morning.

But I did, served in the Promenade, complete with a side order of table etiquette which I won’t forget in a hurry.

Travel facts

• The Dorchester overlooks Hyde Park in Mayfair, on Park Lane, close to the exclusive shopping areas of Bond Street and Knightsbridge within easy access of London attractions including Buckingham Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and West End theatres.
• A superior double room with full English breakfast for two costs from £285 until December 31.
• The impressive Dorchester Spa offering a full range of beauty treatments has a special debut package costing £415, which includes a night for two people, full English breakfast and a 55 minute aromatherapy massage each until August 31.
• For information or to make a reservation see www.thedorchester.com or call 0207 629 8888.

Amy Bould