Dorchester Hotel is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 January 1981. Hotel. 25 related planning applications.
Dorchester Hotel
- WRENN ID
- crooked-quoin-falcon
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Westminster
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 16 January 1981
- Type
- Hotel
- Address
- Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane W1, City of Westminster, W1K 1QA
- OS grid reference
- TQ 283 803
- Coordinates
- 51.50734, -0.15249
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Dorchester Hotel is a Grade II listed "grand" hotel built in 1930. The structural frame was designed by Sir Owen Williams, while the elevations were created by Curtis Green. This monumental building is faced in "art" stone and features a modernistic style that incorporates small-scale decorative motifs inspired by the 1925 Paris Exhibition, rather than adhering strictly to the International Modern style.
The hotel is primarily 10 storeys tall, with stepped back terraced attics. The entrance facade, which is concave, consists of five bays and has a long return along Park Lane, featuring a recessed range above the ground floor and three-bay end blocks. The corners of the building have concave angles, adorned with six-storey bronze and glass oriels and "bronze" finished casements. Decorative "jazzy" waved or zigzag patterns are present on the shallow between-storey and parapet friezes. The entrance facade includes continuous balconies on the third and seventh floors.
While some original motifs remain in the entrance hall and reception area, the interiors have been redecorated in the late 20th century. An innovative aspect of the hotel's structural design is the use of seaweed sound insulation in the floors and partitions.
Local climate
Dorchester Hotel sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 25 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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