After a high-pressure week of meetings, management and making connections, the best way to decompress is to plug in your headphones and allow a superb selection of tunes to take your brain far away from the world of work. Enter the Walpole Weekend Wind-Down: a monthly playlist of tracks curated by one of our Walpole members or partners that will help you transition into a weekend headspace.
Our March playlist has been created by Molto Music Group, the team behind the tracks you'll hear while sipping a martini at the new Vesper Bar at The Dorchester hotel on Park Lane in London.
Since the announcement of the Mayfair institution's largest renovation in over 30 years was made back in back in December 2021, the Walpole member has been reopening its refreshed spaces in phases – the most significant of which was the unveiling of the newly reimagined ground floor public areas at the end of January. This included the addition of a new drinking spot, the Artists' Bar, as well as refreshed schemes for the lobby and reception area, The Promenade restaurant, and the arrival of the opulent Vesper Bar.
> Read more about the renovation of The Dorchester here.
Designed by London’s interiors specialist, Martin Brudnizki, the Vesper Bar replaced the hotel's former cocktail destination, The Bar at The Dorchester. As the name suggests, The Vesper Bar (which replaces the hotel's former cocktail destination The Bar at The Dorchester) is inspired by The Dorchester's links to James Bond. During the 1940s, the creator of Bond, Ian Fleming (who also invented the Vesper Martini) stayed and dined at The Dorchester and during the 1960s and 1970s, EON (the production company for the James Bond films) had an office at the hotel. Over the decades, The Dorchester has hosted many press junkets for the films and welcomed all six James Bonds, 14 Bond Girls, four Ms and nine Bond villains as guests of the hotel.
The bar’s new interior is inspired by the spirit and elegance of the 1930s, and the new layout allows for a dedicated Park Lane entrance, as well as an outside terrace with views towards Hyde Park. Ornate design runs throughout the bar, including a 1930s Palladium leaf ceiling, an upper area of the bar, and cosy ‘snug’ provide more privacy.
It's this cosy vibe that the Molto Music Group team has brougt to this month's playlist (below). So turn down the lights, spark up a few candles, mix yourself a martini and relax.
Find our more about the new Vesper Bar at dorchestercollection.com