London's High-End Hotel War Heats Up

Competition is intensifying at the upmarket end of London's hotel market, and the changes are coming fast as the British capital gears up to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel has installed an exquisite, Michelin-starred restaurant. The Dorchester Hotel has nearly completed a sleek makeover, as has clubby, historic Brown's Hotel. Hyatt International has premiered its hip, designer hotel brand, Andaz, in the city's square-mile financial center. Meanwhile, the Four Seasons Hyde Park and the Fairmont's venerable Savoy Hotel have shut down for top-to-bottom renovations; they'll both reopen well in advance of the Olympic Games.

As I experienced on a recent visit, luxury meets trendy in London hotels, and the competition is as ferocious as in any Olympoic gold-medal showdown. For those who can cover the tab -- think $400 to well north of $1,000 a night -- a commoner can live like royalty in these posh London hotels.

The Dorchester

I have been a fan of the Dorchester since I first stayed at the landmark hotel on Park Lane in the '90s. Opened in 1931, the Dorchester's streamlined Art Deco style has always felt forward-looking while retaining a timeless touch of class. The Dorchester has spent a tidy sum on property upgrades, with only some touching up in the main lobby left to finish.

The makeover becomes a hotel that was none too shabby to begin with. The Promenade -- a long, high-ceilinged, linear space that runs from the lobby past the hotel's restaurants on the way to the new Promenade Bar -- has gained enormous potted palms, beige silk walls and smart new furniture, clustered just so, so that it now feels like a series of attractive rooms, rather than a long corridor.

Just off the Promenade is The Grill, the hotel's reliable, traditional British eatery, and on the other side, the nightclub-like, neon-lit entrance to the re-imagined, two-level main bar. Once a tad conservative, the bar now gleams with a contemporary sensibility; it has its own entrance off Park Lane, luring scene-makers.

The Dorchester's Bar gleams with a contemporary sensibility.

At the far end of the Promenade is China Tang, an elegant Cantonese restaurant by David Tang, the Hong Kong entrepreneur who runs the Shanghai Tang clothing and accessories shops. Alain Duccasse at the Dorchester, which opened late last year, is another new addition, serving haute cuisine.