A dining room dating to 1919, dressed in blue with gold moldings and crystal chandeliers, captures El Palace Hotel Barcelona’s enduring taste for ceremony. The former Ritz, a short walk from Passeig de Gràcia, puts that heritage to work at Amar Barcelona, where chef Rafa Zafra’s seafood-focused cooking includes nods to the hotel’s earlier menus. Afternoon tea brings live piano music to the historic main hall, while breakfast is served in El Jardín, an indoor garden with black-and-white décor and wrought iron details. Upstairs, the Rooftop Garden adds another dimension: greenery, open-air dining and a guest-only swimming pool, with views across Barcelona toward the Sagrada Família.
Ritz/Palace ... Whitney Houston ... and Sir Sean Connery are others among the hundreds of celebrities who have stayed within its walls.Ritz/Palace ... Whitney Houston ... y Sir Sean Connery son otras de las cientos de celebridades que se han alojado entre sus muros.
English gardens provide the design thread at The Dorchester: their colors and motifs shape the rooms and suites, while an extensive art collection explores the British landscape tradition. Outside, Hyde Park stretches across from the hotel’s Park Lane address in Mayfair, with Bond Street’s boutiques nearby. That connection to its surroundings gives this grand London hotel a character beyond its dining credentials, which include contemporary French cuisine at the three-Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse restaurant. The Promenade supplies a more everyday rhythm, serving breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner with live music. Together, these spaces make the hotel as much a place to spend an afternoon or evening as a base for exploring London.
The May Fair’s former Grand Art Deco Ballroom now houses the Palm Beach Casino—a particularly vivid link to the hotel’s beginnings in 1927. That appetite for theatrical design carries into its suites: the Schiaparelli takes inspiration from Elsa Schiaparelli’s favored fuchsia and the surrealist era, with a freestanding limestone egg bath and an integrated fireplace. With more than 400 rooms, including 37 suites, this is a substantial London hotel with plenty happening under one roof. May Fair Kitchen pairs Japanese and Italian cooking, while the bar serves cocktails throughout the day. Outside, its Stratton Street address puts Green Park, Berkeley Square, and Bond Street within easy reach.
May Fair hotel, in London. ... Another night, another celebrity blowout at the hotel that has become the London stopover of choice for A-listers from Whitney Houston to Matt Damon.
