Dorchester hits the US

THE London-based Dorchester Collection is to add two American five-star hotels to its portfolio.

The properties are the New York Palace, in New York, and the Hotel Bel-Air, in Los Angeles.  Both are already well-established iconic hotels.

The New York hotel will undergo a complete redesign and refurbishment over the next three years and the Hotel Bel -Air will get a $6 million spa due to open in 2009.

The group aims to have 15 hotels in key North American and European cities within 10 years and selected these two as landmark properties in key US destinations.  The historic New York hotel was built in 1882 in midtown Manhattan on Madison Avenue and has 899 rooms and a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The Hotel Bel-Air has 91 rooms and is set in 12 acres of landscaped gardens famous for their resident swans.  It underwent a $22 million renovation in 2006.

www.dorchestercollection.com