The Ritz London – César Ritz's palace on Piccadilly since 1906

The Ritz on Piccadilly opened on 25 May 1906 and gave the English language the word "ritzy". Behind the arcades is the Palm Court, where tea is served in a colour that César Ritz chose because it would flatter the complexion, and a dining room with two MICHELIN stars.

The Ritz London stands at 150 Piccadilly, with Green Park on one side and St James's on the other. The hotel has become so associated with luxury that the English language acquired the word "ritzy", and the expression "to put on the Ritz" gave Irving Berlin the title for Puttin' on the Ritz. But behind the myth lies a building with an unusually precise history.

César Ritz and the Parisian façade on Piccadilly

The Swiss hotelier César Ritz, formerly manager of The Savoy, opened the hotel on 25 May 1906, eight years after the Hôtel Ritz in Paris. The site had housed the Old White Horse Cellar, one of England's most famous coaching inns, and later the Walsingham House Hotel and the Bath Hotel, which were demolished in 1904.

The architects were Charles Mewès, who had designed the Ritz in Paris, and Arthur Davis. The building is neoclassical in the Louis XVI style and made to resemble a Parisian apartment block, with arcades deliberately alluding to the Rue de Rivoli. The Swedish engineer Sven Bylander took part in the construction, and the hotel became one of the first large buildings in London with a steel frame. At the corners of the roof stand large lions in green copper, the hotel's symbol.

The Palm Court and tea at the Ritz

The hotel's most famous room is the Palm Court, where Tea at the Ritz is served. The room is decorated in cream Louis XVI style, with mirrors framed in gilt bronze, gilded armchairs, and the La Source fountain in Echaillon marble with a golden nymph. The colour, a soft apricot, was chosen by César Ritz after weeks of trials – it was meant to flatter women's complexions.

The Palm Court became London's fashionable spot for tea after the First World War, and over the years its guests have included Edward VII, Winston Churchill, Judy Garland and the Queen Mother. The crowds became so great that the hotel considered restricting tea to residents; instead, table bookings were introduced. The dress code is strict – the hotel once turned away Mick Jagger because he lacked a jacket and tie, according to Wikipedia.

Lloyd George, Noël Coward and the Aga Khan

Towards the end of the First World War, Prime Minister David Lloyd George held secret meetings at The Ritz. During the 1920s and 30s, Noël Coward dined here regularly, and he wrote the song Children of the Ritz during a lunch in the dining room. The Aga Khan kept a suite at the hotel for forty years, and in 1931 he organised the Round Table Conference here, with Mahatma Gandhi among the participants.

The Barclay brothers' restoration and a Royal Warrant

In 1995, the brothers David and Frederick Barclay bought the hotel for £80 million and then spent eight years and £40 million restoring it. In 2002, The Ritz became the first hotel to be granted a Royal Warrant by the Prince of Wales for its banqueting and catering services. In 2020, the hotel was sold to an investor from Qatar.

The Art Deco Rivoli Bar was designed in 2001 by the interior designer Tessa Kennedy to resemble the bar on the Orient Express. The hotel has 111 rooms and 25 suites, as well as six private dining rooms, including the Marie Antoinette Suite and the rooms in William Kent House, which is Grade II* listed.

The Ritz Restaurant – two MICHELIN stars

The Ritz Restaurant received its first MICHELIN star in the 2016 guide and its second in 2025, retaining both in the 2026 guide for Great Britain and Ireland, according to The Staff Canteen. In 2025, it was named Restaurant of the Year at the National Restaurant Awards. Since May 2026, dinner has been served in a temporary dining room with a glass ceiling and mirrored walls while the historic room is renovated.

Piccadilly and St James's around the hotel

It is a few minutes' walk from The Ritz to Jermyn Street, Burlington Arcade and the Royal Academy. See the streets in VERA PI's street files for Piccadilly, Jermyn Street and Albemarle Street, or start at VERA PI's London guide.

The Ritz London through the years