the song by the sounds see crossing the rubicon the sounds album . general information type luxury hotel town or city mayfair london country united kingdom coordinates 51 30 26 n 0 09 09 w 51.50722 n 0.15250 w 51.50722 ; 0.15250 opened 18 april 1931 design and construction architect owen williams & william curtis green main contractor sir robert mcalpine & sir frances towle other information number of rooms 250 number of suites 49 website official site the dorchester is a five star luxury hotel on park lane and deanery street london to the east of hyde park . it is one of the world s most prestigious and expensive hotels . 1 2 the dorchester opened on 18 april 1931 3 and still retains its 1930s furnishings and ambiance despite being modernised . throughout its history the hotel has been closely associated with the rich and famous . during the 1930s it became known as a haunt of numerous writers and artists such as poet cecil day lewis novelist somerset maugham and the painter sir alfred munnings . it held prestigious literary gatherings notably the foyles literary luncheons an event the hotel still hosts today . during the second world war the strength of its construction gave the hotel the reputation of being one of london s safest buildings and a host of political and military luminaries chose it as their london residence . queen elizabeth ii attended the dorchester when she was a princess on the day prior to the announcement of her engagement to the prince philip duke of edinburgh on 10 july 1947 . the hotel has since become particularly popular with film actors models and rock stars and elizabeth taylor and richard burton frequently stayed at the hotel throughout the 1960s and 1970s . the hotel became a grade ii listed building in january 1981 and was subsequently purchased by the sultan of brunei in 1985 . it belongs to the dorchester collection which in turn is owned by the brunei investment agency bia an arm of the ministry of finance of brunei . in the 1950s theatrical designer oliver messel made a number of notable changes to the interior of the hotel incorporating aspects of theatrical design into the hotel interior . he designed the lavish apartments on the 7th and 8th floors ; the oliver messel suite is named after him designed in the georgian country house style . between 1988 and 1990 the hotel was completely renovated by bob lush of the richmond design group at a cost of us 100 million . today the dorchester has five restaurants the grill alain ducasse the spatisserie the promenade and china tang . alain ducasse s restaurant is one of the uk s four 3 michelin starred restaurants . afternoon tea a tradition which has taken place at the hotel since its opening in 1931 is served every day of the week at five in the afternoon in the promenade and the spatisserie . harry craddock one of the world s most famous barmen of the 1930s invented the dorchester of london cocktail here at the dorchester bar . a well lit plane tree stands at the edge of the hotel in the front garden and was named one of the great trees of london by the london tree forum and countryside commission in 1997 . contents 1 history 1.1 background 1.2 construction 1.3 1931 1945 1.4 post war 2 architecture 2.1 exterior 2.2 interior 2.3 restaurants 2.4 grounds 3 entertainment 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit background edit the site was originally part of the manor of hyde which was given to william the conqueror by geoffrey de mandeville . joseph damer acquired it in the 18th century and a large building was constructed in 1751 . it was named dorchester house in 1792 after damer became the earl of dorchester . in the early 19th century it became the hertford house after it was purchased by francis seymour conway the 3rd marquess of hertford and alterations were made to it inspired by the villa farnese of rome . 4 following the death of hertford it was converted into a mansion by captain robert stayner holford . the background to the development of the dorchester hotel is complicated . 5 sir malcolm mcalpine a partner in the building company sir robert mcalpine & sons and sir frances towle the managing director of gordon hotels ltd. shared a vision of creating the perfect hotel ultramodern and ultra efficient with all the conveniences modern technology could supply . 3 the two companies purchased hertford house in 1929 and quickly demolished it . 6 7 the british broadcasting corporation bbc had also shown an interest in purchasing it and had almost done so prior to the mcalpine acquisition but instead they turned their attention to foley house . 8 the purchase and destruction of hertford house was part of significant redevelopment which took place on park lane during this period ; it followed the gutting of grosvenor house and the building of the grosvenor hotel which was completed in 1929 . 9 construction edit the exterior . sir owen williams was commissioned to design the new hotel using reinforced concrete to allow the creation of large internal spaces without support pillars but he abandoned the project in february 1930 and was replaced with william curtis green . 10 11 james maude richards hired by williams served as an architectural assistant within the all engineer staff . percy morley horder consulting architect to gordon s hotels had not been consulted during the design process and after seeing the plan resigned from the project remarking to the observer that the design was ill suited for the location assuming the concrete was to be left unpainted and that the insulation would be minimal . some 40 000 tonnes of earth were excavated to make room for the hotel s extensive basement which is one third of the size of the hotel above the surface . 11 the upper eight floors were erected in just 10 weeks supported on a massive 3 feet 0.91 m thick reinforced concrete deck that forms the roof of the first floor . 11 with the development of the dorchester concerns were raised that park lane would soon become new york city s fifth avenue . 9 1931 1945 edit somerset maugham the new dorchester hotel was feted with a grand opening on 18 april 21 april also cited 1931 by lady violet astor . 12 the dorchester quickly gained reputation as a luxury hotel . 13 during the 1930s it became known as a haunt of numerous writers and artists such as poet cecil day lewis novelist somerset maugham and the painter sir alfred munnings . there were prestigious literary gatherings including foyles literary luncheons an event the hotel still hosts . 14 15 16 shortly after the opening sir percival david a leading admirer of chinese porcelain moved his growing collection from the mayfair hotel to the dorchester where he kept it in his suites for many years . 17 danny kaye began appearing in cabaret at the hotel in the 1930s initially earning 50 a week . 14 many blues and jazz artists appeared at the hotel including alberta hunter and the jack jackson orchestra . in 1934 hunter and her orchestra recorded no l coward s i travel alone and cole porter s miss ortis regrets at the hotel ; both coward and porter were fans . 18 it also became a rendezvous for many businessmen ; it was at the dorchester that british petroleum formed a joint collaborate committee with ici in 1943 . 19 during the second world war the strength of its construction gave the hotel the reputation of being one of london s safest buildings . 20 on its opening sir malcolm mcalpine declared it to be bomb proof earthquake proof and fireproof and the only damage inflicted on the building by the luftwaffe during the war was several broken windows . 21 some felt the communal air raid shelter in the basement to be insufficiently exclusive and retreated to the hotel s underground gymnasium and turkish baths which had been converted into a shelter by victor cazalet . 22 its wartime clientele included such political and military luminaries as lord halifax foreign minister oliver stanley minister for war air chief marshal sir charles portal chief of the air staff duff cooper with his wife lady diana cooper oliver lyttleton president of the board of trade and duncan sandys financial secretary to the war office . 23 halifax and his wife took eight rooms as well as a chapel in the hotel 24 and when possible he enjoyed trysts with his mistress alexandra baba metcalfe who was also staying in the hotel and concurrently having an affair with dino grandi mussolini s representative in london . 25 general dwight d. eisenhower took a suite on the first floor now the eisenhower suite in 1942 after having previously stayed at claridge s and in 1944 made it his headquarters ; 7 kay summersby his chauffeur and purported mistress and roosevelt s representative averell harriman also stayed there thanks to its reputation as a safe haven . 26 27 during a dinner party which harriman attended in the dorchester the bombing was so intense that guests came down to join him there as it was safer than in the upper floor rooms . 27 bostonian sherry mangan of time was one of several american correspondents who stayed at the hotel during the war meeting the trotskyist sam gordon in 1944 who asked if the dorchester was safe from air raids to which mangan assured him that every fifth columnist in london is staying here . 28 other of the hotel s guests reflected the directors wide ranging political beliefs it was at once the base for the zionist movement s leaders including chaim weizmann as well as a group of upper class british anti semites including margaret greville . 29 according to cecil beaton the clientele was a mixed brew ; 30 to its wartime chronicler it was a building in which the respectable and the dubious mixed by the thousand knocking back cocktails and indulging in careless talk . 31 in march 1945 ernest hemingway and time correspondent and lover mary welsh stayed at the dorchester 32 where they were entertained by emerald lady cunard who had a three room suite on the seventh floor . 33 post war edit a black bentley continental flying spur belonging to the dorchester . in 1949 the 150th anniversary of alexander pushkin s birth was organized at the hotel by the society of cultural relations with the ussr attended by the soviet charg d affaires the polish ambassador the romanian minister and cecil day lewis raising mi5 s suspicions that he still had communist sympathies 34 a contention he later denounced . in the post war period the dorchester became one of the most popular hotels in london for actors and entertainers and the banqueting rooms and suites became known for their press conferences and parties . 35 diners at the dorchester included cyril connolly t. s. eliot harold nicolson and edith sitwell with a clientele of luminaries such as ralph richardson elizabeth taylor alfred hitchcock and barbra streisand . queen elizabeth ii attended the dorchester when she was a princess on the day prior to the announcement of her engagement to the prince philip duke of edinburgh on 10 july 1947 . 14 prince philip also held his stag night party at the hotel which has been documented in a plaque . 7 when said bin taimur of oman was ousted in a coup in july 1970 and replaced with his son qaboos bin said he was sent in exile and lived at the dorchester until his death in 1972 . 36 the mcalpine family