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The Dorchester

By , About.com Guide

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Welcome to London's Dorchester Hotel
Dorchester Butlers (c) The Dorchester.
"Posh" is one of Londoners' favorite descriptors, and no London hotel more epitomizes the word than The Dorchester.

Opened in 1931, The Dorchester's combination of opulent decor and devoted, respectful service quickly won favor with royalty, leaders of nations, celebrities, and CEOs.

Some of The Dorchester's best-known guests have included Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammed Ali, Alfred Hitchcock, Oprah Winfrey, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Russell Crowe, Karl Lagerfeld, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Drew Barrymore, Michael Jackson, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Morgan Freeman, Nicholas Cage, and Sharon Stone.

Above, in The Dorchester's front garden, three of the hotel's e-Butlers stand in front of the London Plane tree, named one of the Great Trees of London. The e-Butlers assist guests with technology issues, which have ranged from linking laptops to the hotel's broadband to setting up an intranet between the Dorchester and New Zealand for the composers of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

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