The Dorchester’s new Vesper Bar • Hotel Designs

Having recently released the first images of  its extensive renovation, The Dorchester is drip-feeding us design inspiration with these images, and an announcement that the new Vesper Bar will be launching this December ahead of the first phase completion of the hotel’s comprehensive transformation. At Vesper Bar guests will encounter a bar with movie star looks and a supporting cast of talented bartenders ready to curate evenings of mature fun. The cocktail menu will showcase both timeless and signature cocktails inspired by The Dorchester, curated by award-winning drinks connoisseur and head bartender Lucia Montanelli.

The bar’s new interior celebrates a time when manners were still important and yet mayhem was celebrated. The new layout allows for a dedicated Park Lane entrance and an outside terrace with views towards Hyde Park. Ornate design runs throughout the bar, including a 1930’s Palladium leaf ceiling creating a warm effect as Martini hour transitions into the evening. An upper area of the bar and cosy ‘snug’ provide more privacy without compromising on the atmosphere.

A series of Cecil Beaton pieces will adorn the bar walls to honour a long-standing connection between the celebrated photographer/designer and the hotel, and to remind guests of this glamorous decade. Some of Beaton’s original drawings and celebrity photography will be brought together with work by contemporary artists, such as Rosie Emmerson, who were inspired by both Beaton and the energy of that time.

The name, Vesper Bar, honours The Dorchester’s many connections with James Bond throughout the years. Bond author, Ian Fleming, who invented the Vesper Martini, stayed and dined at The Dorchester in the 1940s and throughout his life until he died in 1964 and when William Boyd continued the Bond series with the novel ‘Solo’, Bond wakes up in a suite at The Dorchester on his 45th birthday. During the 60s and 70s the production company for the James Bond films, EON, had an office at the hotel and throughout the decades The Dorchester has hosted many press junkets for the films and welcomed all six James Bonds, 14 Bond Girls, four M’s and nine Bond villains as guests of the hotel.

The Dorchester will be ready to reveal its new interiors as of December 2022. The hotel remains open for guests throughout the renovation.

Main image credit: Dorchester Collection