Ultra-luxury Dorchester Collection looks to grow in N.Y., elsewhere

The small, ultra-luxury Dorchester Collection's working to expand to 15 hotels and regain its presence in New York, the company's CEO told AFP in a recent interview.

"We have now nine hotels, they are all iconic. We own all of them except the Richemond (in Geneva). The aim is to have 15 hotels by 2015; it's ambitious but that's the plan," said Christopher Cowdray, the 56-year-old Zimbabwean who ran the Dorchester Hotel in London before becoming CEO in 2007.

The company's hotels are popular with celebrities, royalty and business moguls.

The company last year sold one of three U.S. hotels — the massive, 899-room New York Palace Hotel, which has spectacular views of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The U.S.-based Northwood investment group bought it and is now spending about $100 million renovating the guest rooms.

Target cities for growth

So where is the Dorchester Collection looking to expand its five-star reach?

It's looking to regain a presence in New York — with a much smaller hotel than the Palace. (On that front, we know which hotel the company won't buy — the sophisticated Setai Fifth Avenue, which the Hong-Kong-based luxury hotel company Langham just bought.)

Dorchester Collection also is eyeing Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, Cowdray told AFP.

The company's most recent addition? The 45 Park Lane in London last year.

With 45 rooms, it's the smallest hotel in the system. It's just a few steps away from the Dorchester and about two or three blocks from the Four Seasons Park Lane and InterContinental London Park Lane in the city's well-heeled Mayfair district.

The Sultan of Brunei bought the Dorchester — which overlooks London's Hyde Park — in 1986, and began adding hotels, the AFP says.

Among the additions: The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1995; the Meurice and Plaza Athenee hotels in Paris (both of which have "palace" distinction) in 1997, and the Bel-Air in Los Angeles in 2008, AFP tells us.

The article also notes that the company's pending renovation and expansion of its famed Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris may require the hotel to be temporarily closed.

"We have to consider what would be the impact on the business and our guests. Beginning next year, we'll be able to make the final decision," Cowdray told AFP.

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