45 Park Lane Hotel by Dorchester Collection

45 Park Lane Hotel by Dorchester Collection

Order breakfast to the room and it arrives with the quiet efficiency of a hotel that has done this for decades: 45 Park Lane Hotel by Dorchester Collection sits in Mayfair, close enough to walk to Crockfords, Queen Elizabeth Gate and Curzon Mayfair. It holds just 46 rooms spread over nine floors, each individually decorated and fitted with an iPad and iPod docking station rather than the standardised layouts larger chains rely on. CUT at 45 Park Lane, its American restaurant, sits alongside a second in-house restaurant and round-the-clock room service, with the bar for something at the end of the day. What sets this address apart from its Mayfair peers is an indoor pool, a genuine rarity given the size and location; the spa around it runs to a sauna, steam room and massage treatments, with a doctor on call, and a 24-hour fitness center covers the rest. There is a library for those who came to read rather than sightsee, and work has a home too, in a business center with roughly 380 square feet of conference and meeting space. Wi-Fi is free throughout and babysitting can be arranged for a surcharge, though parking on site is limited, so cars are better left elsewhere, and pets are not accepted. An extra bed runs 84 GBP a night, and a 200 GBP daily deposit is taken at check-in against damages. Staff work in English, French, Italian and Spanish. This suits someone who wants a small, staffed-up hotel in the centre of things and doesn't mind paying for the privacy that comes with it; it will feel confining to anyone chasing scale or spectacle. A 46-room Mayfair hotel with its own indoor pool, individually decorated rooms and a doctor on call. Small in number, thorough in detail, and priced accordingly.