A guide to London’s hotel restaurants

Hotel restaurants have come a long way since they were dingy add-ons geared towards a captive audience, once the preserve of holidaymakers too lazy to leave the lobby. London is in the midst of a literal feeding frenzy of swish new hotel restaurant openings. The whole ‘dining experience’ – what is dining if not an experience? – has become a way for hard-pressed hoteliers keen to make a bit of extra cash.

My dream has always been to live in a grand London hotel with every whim catered for. The dowdy old Dorchester, once a second home to reprobates such as Burton and Taylor, always held a particular appeal, even more so now that the hotel has finally received the facelift she deserves and with it the launch of two celebrity chef offerings. Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and The Grill by Tom Booton both deliver exceptional fine dining but the former, one of only five 3-Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, has fallen victim to the increasingly ubiquitous airport lounge vibe aimed at entitled anywheres who expect pink marble with everything.