Warmest Hospitality at Dorsett
Shepherds Bush
In
continuation from my first post on my trip to London, we were hosted at the
prestigious award winning Dorsett
Shepherds Bush in London. Dorsett
Shepherds Bush London, United Kingdom, is Dorsett Hospitality International’s
first hotel out of Asia. Open in June 2014, the Grade II listed building was
formerly a cinema before it was bought over and revamped into Dorsett Shepherds Bush hotel. What was
beautiful was that Dorsett retained the buildings historic façade but added
their own contemporary elegance inside the building.
We
arrived in London after 5pm local time and checked into the 7-storey hotel set in
West London. We entered by the side of the building and was enthralled when we
enter the hotel. At sight, we were impressed with how gorgeous the design of
the building was. Glass panel are placed at the top of the high ceiling to
allow nature’s lightings to glow in the evening, adding a beautiful moonlight
sheen on the already majestic design of the multiple levels of the building storey
of vertical design panels with a backlight gold façade.
I
for one cannot help it, I stared in amazement at how amazing this atrium is…
The Atrium & Jin
Bar
The
area here is also where Jin, the Atrium
bar resides. A long space filled with cleverly colored seats and sofas,
many who stays at Dorsett Shepherds Bush
tend to want to spend some time here at the Atrium. Whether it’s to sip lush
cocktails or liquer or simply to enjoy an Afternoon Tea set the British way,
the Atrium is perfect for lingering on private moments or meeting friends and
families.
The
week we were there, Dorsett Shepherds
Bush launched an exclusive Asian Art
exhibition in line with the hotel’s Asian
Art Experience package where one can stay at the hotel with a guided tour
of several London art galleries, breakfast and Afternoon tea. The pop up Asian
Art exhibition features two Matthias
Dathe and Jared Fitzgerald.
There will be more on both artist and the Asian Art exhibition in my coming
post.
The Lobby
We
checked in at the lobby, a spacious gold reception desk set at one side of the
room. The middle of the room was enhanced with more backlight gold façade of a
circle on the ceiling as well as lines of more circles on the floor. At any time
of the day, the lobby was a grand and opulent sight with the gold and dark
trimmings.
I
for one, really like the camera lights placed strategically with high back arm
chairs and long plush seat bench in silver velvet materials. Unlike the norm of
many hotels where there is a lounge next to the lobby reception area, the
designer has creative an elegant space throughout the hotel to give the hotel
its modern contemporary ambiance.
A
favorite corner of mine, and possibly many as well, has to be the Audrey Hepburn corner. Trust me, you
cannot miss this beautiful corner set with a specially customized Audrey
Hepburn piece made from strips of film and set in opulent gold frame.
Another
sight that continues to leave me with a lasting impression of Dorsett Shepherds Bush was the
elevator! When the elevator doors open, one will be immediately attracted to
the dark panel set with Dorsett
Hospitality International’s custom designed icons of East heading towards
the West. In tuned with the hotel group’s concept of celebrating the intertwined
cultures of Asia and Britain to create something extraordinary.
Dorsett Room
We
were ushered into our room with mine being the Dorsett Room. Dorsett
Shepherds Bush has 317 rooms themed with a Chinese accent incorporated with
a Western contemporary edge. The 7 storey hotel has a five room categories with
187 standard Dorsett rooms, Deluxe rooms, Executive rooms and 24 suites
combining the Dorsett Suite and the Dorsett Studio. The interior of the hotel
was designed by Dorsett’s very own in-house design team and has bagged several
awards for its light and modern interior theme with a Chinese influence.
All
throughout the hotel, there are little colored birdies placed on the room
doors, along frames at the hallway and other places.
All
Dorsett rooms comes with either a twin bed or a Queen bed and ours has an extra
seating area with a sofa bed. Beautifully furnished with a light theme of
Chinese elegance with a modern touch, the room is spacious and very comfortable
at sight. It was warm and inviting despite being away from home.
The
bed, with its marshmallow comfort and plushness, and fluffy pillows had me
sleeping soundly the many nights I was there. At any time of the day, I can’t
seem to resist in laying down on the bed for a moment of pleasure.
Every
little detail was thought after by the hotel. Furnished with modern silver
lotus bloom lamps and reading lights by the bedside, a work desk, an 37” LCD TV
on the wall, Docking station, complimentary Wi-Fi (and its super-fast too!), individually
controlled air-conditioning, minibar of kettle, ice bucket, coffee, tea, water
and shortbreads and Blenheim Palace still and sparkling water.
Inside
the cabinet, there was iron and ironing board, mini safe, room slippers,
hairdryer and extra blanket as well as laundry service list.
The
bathroom offers a full bath set with a shower as well as two wash basins set in
marble and granite. Bathroom amenities from Eco-Boutique, usual tooth brush and
tooth paste, shower cap, sewing kit, shaving kit are all displayed nicely in a
cute bird topped cylinder box.
A
plus point for me was the towel rack that has heating, it’s perfect for the
current London weather!
Each
night when we return from our adventures, the hotel offers turndown service
with chocolate on our bed.
Dorsett Suite
We
also took a tour of the hotel’s other room categories and its facilities. First
up, Dorsett Suite, located at the
highest floor of the building. A King bed set with a corner of floor to ceiling
windows on one side is set to let customers experience a luxury stay at Dorsett Shepherds Bush. There are two
variants of the suite, one with a seating area and the other with a separate
seating area.
The
room has extra features of custom Tiffany blue lamps, white glass and wood
cabinet set with 42” LCD TV, sofa, white work desk embellished with gold
trimmings and other lux items.
We
also visited the Dorsett Suite with the separate living room featuring the same
theme.
Spa and Wellness
Located
on the highest floor of the hotel as well is the Adeela Crown Aesthetic Spa. Featuring four treatment rooms, sauna,
steam room, infra-red sauna and relaxation lounge, the spa is also designed in
theme with the hotel. A palate of muted greys and whites accentuated with
mirrors gave the spa a modern elegance. Guests staying at Dorsett Shepherds Bush are accorded complimentary usage of the
hotel’s sauna and steam facilities.
The
relaxation lounge is beautiful, a nurturing space to simply do nothing, unwind
and take in nature’s elements in peace.
Gym
Hotel
guests who needs their daily exercise will be pleased with the complimentary 24
hour access to the gym using their room card.
Business Travel and
Meeting Rooms
Dorsett Shepherds Bush has 3 meeting rooms available. The
first is a larger board room style meeting room that can hold 14 delegates and
features a smart board. The second room has a maximum capacity of 10 people and
features a 60 inch TV for presentation. These two rooms have the ability to
become one bigger meeting space to cater for a higher number of individuals.
The smaller of our meeting rooms is a board room which can accommodate 8 and is
situated within the Dorsett Lounge with private access. Each function room is
fully equipped with the latest multimedia technology and wireless Internet
connectivity.
Dorsett Lounge
Located
on the ground floor of the hotel on a private side of the building, the Dorsett Lounge is exclusive for hotel guests
staying in Executive guestrooms and Suites. Equipped with enhanced amenities
and services such as complimentary daily continental breakfast, complimentary
wireless internet access and other selected privileges, the Dorsett Lounge also
serves as a temporary office or a relaxation point.
Pictures Restaurant
Dorsett Shepherds Bush features two restaurants and one of
them is Pictures, the in house
restaurant. Pictures is an all-day dining serving up breakfast, lunch and
dinner for hotel guests. The restaurant is beautifully design with lots of
modern contemporary features and space. It is transform to a buffet breakfast
spread in the morning and set for a la carte lunches and dinners after.
Themed
in muted grey walls and red cherry wood flooring, the restaurant also has a
ceiling of glass to allow natural lighting in the day and a soft glow of
moonlight in the evening. I personally loved the plush silver velvet covered chairs
trimmed with gold beads paired with shiny black tables. The walls have gold
ornate framed mirrors align on one side and lots of black and white framed
photos on the other side. The space gave the restaurant is prestige ambiance.
There
is also a private Red Room at
Pictures hidden away from the main dining area. This one has splashes of red
walls contrasting with lots of black and white framed photos of many yesteryear movie icons.
Shikumen Restaurant
Located
adjacent to the hotel, Shikumen is
operated by a third party owner. It is a fine dining restaurant serving
exquisite creative Asian cuisine that is worth visiting while staying at
Dorsett Shepherds Bush. Owned by Malaysian born Simon Chai, Shikumen has been
awarded a Bib Gourmand in the 2016
Michelin Guide.
Shikumen
has a classy and rich modern Oriental design. The restaurant is themed in rich
warm tones contrast with cream and dark wood. Oriental panels, Asian art
pieces, Chinese wordings on a large mural and more gave Shikumen its fine
dining ambiance.
*Stay tune in my coming post on the
food in Dorsett Shepherds Bush restaurants.
Hilary Cross, General Manager of
Dorsett Shepherds Bush
We
met up with the General Manager of Dorsett Shepherds Bush, Hilary Cross and was gravitated by her gracious humor and warmth personality.
With more than 27 years of experience in the hotel management in the United
Kingdom, Hillary has been with Dorsett
Shepherds Bush since the very beginning of the built to finish and launch.
Despite her humble and warm personality, this tough cookie takes her role very
seriously and enjoys the challenges of this very competitive service and
hospitality industry. Working her way up from the very basic hotel roles, she
continues to set her sight high and has drove Dorsett Shepherds Bush into obtaining the many awards and
certificate of recognitions in London. She is also the first female chairman on
the board of West London Hotels and Management.
Dorsett
Shepherds Bush night scene
There’s
absolutely plenty of reason s why one would want to stay at this 4-star hotel
in Shepherds Bush, West London. The Dorsett
Shepherds Bush leans towards more of a 5-star rating with all its extra
features rather that its assign 4-star.
The
hotel is located in a convenient area facing a large field of green known as Shepherds Bush Common, has a bus stop
with 18 bus routes communicating to major locations in London every 15 minutes.
A 3 min walk to the underground Tube station has us traveling at ease to major
hotspots of London such as Notting Hill, London’s West East, Kensington and
more. It is within a five minute walk to one of the biggest shopping mall – Westfield London Shopping Centre that
has lots of popular brands as well as restaurants. A mere 40 minutes away from
Heathrow Airport with the Tube station of Piccadilly line from Hammersmith
makes it convenient for many travelers to save on the cost of airport transportation.
The
two most valuable reasons to stay at Dorsett
Shepherds Bush has to be their gorgeous hotel interior throughout the hotel
as well as the warm and friendly hospitality from all the Dorsett Shepherds
Bush management and team.
There
is a list of on-going promotions at the hotel that is available at this link. Enjoy as
much as 38% off or take on their Festive holiday package, Going Green package
as well as Shopping package. Dorsett
Shepherds Bush also has a Family Fun package in partnership with Kidzania London located at Westfield London Shopping Centre where
little ones can also experience the Dorsett
Shepherds Bush hotel with a mini Dorsett room. More of that will be
available in my coming posts.
DORSETT
SHEPHERDS BUSH
58 Shepherds Bush Green,
London W12 8QE, United
Kingdom
Email:
info.shepherdsbush@dorsetthotels.com
Tel: +44 (0) 203 262
1026
Dorsett
Shepherds Bush Awards
Certificate
of Excellence 2015 Winner by TripAdvisor
Hammersmith
Society Environment Award – June 2015
Schueco
Design Excellence Award – June 2015
Architect’s
Journal Retrofit Hotel Award – September 2015
Best
New Business by Hammersmith & Fulham Brilliant Business Awards – November 2015
Hospitality
Business of the Year 2015 by West London Business Awards – December 2015
This trip was made
possible by Malaysia Airlines, UK Visit
Britain and Dorsett Shepherds Bush
London. All stories and comments in my posts are purely derived from my own
experiences through the trip.
*Look
out for more posts coming on UK Visit Britain sites as well as our food
experiences at Dorsett Shepherds Bush London!
London
Stories
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