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A magnificent hotel with a great location, between Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner, the Dorchester lays its luxury on thick, which may be one reason it has long been the first choice in London for many Middle Eastern royals and for celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and Karl Lagerfeld. Opened in 1931 and completely refurbished in the late 1980s, the 249-room hotel welcomes guests at a porte-cochere facing Hyde Park that has been featured in several Hollywood films, most recently Woody Allen’s Match Point. The actor-director may have chosen it as a backdrop because the Dorchester is where he likes to stay in London—and that may be because it reminds him a bit of New York’s Carlyle Hotel, where he often plays jazz when he’s in his hometown. All the rooms overlook Hyde Park (you can often see people on horseback in the early morning). The simpler rooms are decorated in a supremely comfortable English style with floral chintzes; the suites have more elaborate Art Deco– and Regency-style furniture and fabrics. Two years ago, David Tang added some glamour to the property when he unveiled China Tang, a stylish restaurant inspired by Shanghai in the 1930s. Double rooms from $920.

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An American’s vision of grand London, this five-star property was opened by Texan Caroline Hunt as a Rosewood hotel in 1991 and is now a St. Regis hotel. Located in a Regency building that once housed St. George’s Hospital, the Lanesborough, which has 49 rooms and 46 suites, commands a prime spot in Knightsbridge on Hyde Park Corner, facing Apsley House. While its majestic exterior was preserved, the interior was gutted. When the hotel first welcomed guests, its Regency-style rooms were the most expensive in the city. Everyone agreed that the marquetry-inlaid bedside tables, lush flower arrangements and beds crowned with silk swags dramatically evoked splendid British country estates, but many Anglophiles were horrified by the opulent furniture throughout and the false leather spines on the shelves in the Library Bar, off the lobby. Americans including Larry Hagman and Michael Jackson and carloads of corporate executives didn’t seem to mind, though—perhaps because there is no English reserve to the all-out bowing and scraping before guests. Mahogany paneling and tassel-edged silk curtains adorn even some of the hotel’s bathrooms, lest a young master of the universe momentarily forget just how important he is while stepping out of the shower. Other attentive touches are personalized stationery and, for every guest, a private butler who thinks of things like coffee delivered shortly after your wake-up call and hors d’oeuvres if you have pre-dinner visitors. The Lanesborough may not feel truly British, but the service is caring and the location conveniently central, just a few blocks from Harrods and the easy jogging paths in Hyde Park and Green Park. Rooms from $670.

MEMBER COMMENT

In addition to the comment below, click here to read a Discussion Board post from another member about the hotel’s wonderfully personalized service.