Playgrounds for sheikhs and oligarchs: the secret world of London’s luxury hotels

With their discreet lobbies and Michelin-starred restaurants, the capital's high-end hotels have become a new green zone of affluence, where the global super-rich book entire floors to do business away from prying eyes

The best place to watch the world's money pouring into the UK isn't at the London Stock Exchange or in the offices of the City's magic-circle law firms, but holding a cup of tea in one of a handful of hotel lobbies. In the Dorchester's long, narrow Promenade bar one evening in August, most of the high-backed sofas are occupied by Middle Eastern guests, some of them drinking with friends and families, others sitting next to lawyers and fixers, who listen and scribble. Occasionally, something is signed unsmilingly; hands are shaken.

The Promenade is a public space with privacy designed in - the height of the sofas, and the faux-marble pillars, make it difficult to see who is talking to who. The guests order from the bar menu - beef sliders for 21, 770 for a 50g portion of beluga caviar. An order comes in for a 570 bottle of NV Krug Rosi(C) and, unlike at a Chelsea nightclub, no fuss is made.