Park Lane’s iconic London luxury hotel

At least until the end of June 2015, this statue, Harmony, stands in the centre of London’s busy-busy Park Lane, by the street’s iconic luxury hotel, The Dorchester. Ten feet high, the Yin and Yang sculpture is by Lorenzo Quinn, one of the 16 children of Anthony Quinn – his mother is costume designer Iolanda Addolori. As Lorenzo Quinn says of this work, placed here by Halcyon Gallery, ‘I have always been attracted by the symbols of the yin and yang and that couples could see themselves reflected by their meanings. Each person fills a space that the other was missing and therefore completing his companion. This creates a perfect harmony that is essential to every relationship.’

I am in suite 510/11 and the bathroom is something of a sculpture, too. Look at it, a harmony of pale marble. All this actually means is that it is naturally beautiful. It also fullfils the role for which it is intended, namely a working bathroom that looks and is meticulously clean. The bathroom is also thoughtful. It has a heated towel rail, which every bathroom in every luxury hotel should have as a matter of course, and the toiletries, Aromatherapy Associates specially for the hotel, are easy to identify, easy to open, and lovely to use.

The suite looks out past Harmony to leafy Hyde Park, and I love the sexy yellow and white striped awnings. Being incredibly nosey, I check the suite out. In closets I find red boxes with clear top windows, containing Derek Rose pyjamas, to buy (and later I am told that many do buy them). I could spend lots of time in 510/11 but, alas, that is time I do not have. Instead of elevators, with their signature yellow-lime interiors, I take carpeted stairs, 152 in all, down to the basement Technogym, which fortunately is 24/7. Then it is time for breakfast.

After what could well have been 80 years of tartan décor, The Dorchester Grill has had an amazingly striking new look. From Murano chandeliers to open kitchen with displays of historic copper jelly moulds, and main walls with ceiling-high vertical panels that can be rotated from day-time mirror to night black, designer Thierry Despont‘s new-look is impressive, and calming. I eat my Beillevaire yoghurt and think wow, this luxury hotel is even more stylishly up to date than at my last visit.