Sweet Disposition: The Pastry Shop is Having a Moment at Luxury Hotels
How the world's finest hotels are enticing guests with on-site patisseries and exquisite desserts.
Burj Al Arab
It seems just about every prestigious hotel worth its salt, er sugar, is opening an on-site patisserie where guests can enjoy cakes and confections made by renowned chefs and artisans. From London to Singapore and Dubai to Mumbai, you might say the hotel patisserie is having a moment. That moment probably started back in 2016, when a then 30-year-old pastry chef, Cédric Grolet, invited media to preview, like a designer showing off a spring collection, his new series of temptations at La Pâtisserie du Meurice in Paris. His emblematic desserts, sculpted to mimic the shape and texture of fruits, catapulted Grolet to the kind of superstardom typically reserved for rock stars and athletes.
The Dorchester
Le Meurice, though, is not the only luxury hotel in Paris with its own cake shop. There’s also the Ritz, where Le Comptoir pastry chef François Perret creates signature sweets. Meanwhile, Hôtel de Crillon has the elegant Butterfly Pâtisserie, featuring a glass display case with a rotating selection of desserts by pastry chef Matthieu Carlin.
In 2022, Grolet opened a pâtisserie at The Berkeley in London, his first outside France. In the space, all gleaming white-stone counters and gold accents, Grolet’s trademark trompe-l’œil signature desserts, such as the lemon and the apple, are made with thin layers of mousse, compote, and biscuit, and decorated with realistic details. Also in London, at The Dorchester, the charming patisserie Cake & Flowers, a collaboration between pastry chef Michael Kwan and florist Philip Hammond, offers a range of cakes and flowers that complement each other.
Burj Al Arab
On the other side of the globe at Burj Al Arab, with its panoramic views of the Arabian Gulf and the Dubai skyline, chef Tom Coll recently opened a lavish patisserie, Les Desserts. The boutique is small but delightful, with a rounded-edge marble counter at the centre of the room showcasing eight seasonal pastries, including a mango cheesecake, a raspberry tarte, a chocolate flower, and a pistachio religieuse. Elsewhere in the boutique, elegant cakes are displayed behind glass and seem to float like sculptures atop golden plates. Guests can order cakes to be delivered to their suites or to enjoy in the lounge.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
In Turkey, the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet has haute couture La Pistache Patisserie, with a selection of Turkish and international delights. Helmed by chef Yalçın Köse, the highlight of the pistachio-themed menu is a cake made entirely with pistachio that blends paste, cream, gel, and crisp forms of the Persian tree seed. At the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, the charming La Patisserie is a favourite among locals and visitors alike, who are treated to a variety of sweet temptations as well as a bakery where they can watch the chefs prepare fresh croissants, muffins, and cookies. Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental‘s Mandarin Cake Shop, at various properties like Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Paris, offers a variety of delicacies that showcase seasonal flavours and local ingredients.
Mandarin Oriental
Whether it’s a classic French pastry, a rich chocolate cake, or a colourful macaron, there’s something irresistible about a sweet treat that satisfies the senses and lifts the mood—especially when you indulge on vacation, when we take a break from counting calories.
