London Hotels

• The Ritz is centrally located in the West End, at the northeast corner of Green Park, 500 yards from Buckingham Palace.
  
  
• This fabled seven-story hotel has 133 guestrooms furnished in Louis XVI style, with plasterwork details painted in 23.9-karat gold.
  
  
• Now fully restored, the Ritz has a staff-to-guestroom ratio of 2:1 and a formal restaurant with Italian garden, fit for the Queen.
  
  

GENERAL INFORMATION:
What to expect: Since 1906, the Ritz has dominated Piccadilly. Reminiscent of a French château, the Louis XVI-style interior is adorned with Ionic columns and Belle Epoque furnishings. Stepping inside the lobby's three-story rotunda with its leaded glass ceiling is like entering a fairy tale. Yet the Ritz is warm and welcoming, and executives, celebrating couples, and families breeze in and out, undaunted by the hotel's glamorous pedigree.

Amenity highlights: Service is serious business at the Ritz, where there are two staff members (many in traditional tailcoats) for each guestroom. Guests have 24-hour use of business facilities in the reservations office, including a computer with complimentary high-speed Internet access. Other conveniences include a beauty salon with hair, nail, and facial services for men and women, and a fine jewelry store that sells exclusively designed and custom-crafted pieces.

Insider tip: Located next door, Fortnum & Mason is perhaps London's most "English" department store, with a more intimate atmosphere and more old-world charm than Harrods or Selfridges. The food hall, open seven days a week, offers a cornucopia of gourmet English treats, and the window displays are some of the most elaborate "shows" in the West End.

PROPERTY AMENITIES:
From the fairy tale-like Palm Court and Ritz Restaurant to the art deco-inspired Rivoli Bar, The Ritz London offers elegant surroundings for cocktails, afternoon tea, or a fine meal. The fitness center is open from early morning until late evening. Complimentary business facilities, including a computer with high-speed Internet access, are available 24 hours a day. The hotel has its own beauty salon for men and women, and jewelry shop.

ROOMS:
The 133 guestrooms at The Ritz London are furnished in Louis XVI style, with original Edwardian, leather-topped desks, marble fireplaces, crystal pendant ceiling lamps, and two-tone white-paneled walls with plasterwork details gilded in 23.9-karat gold. Soft quilted bedspreads match heavy tied-back curtains and cushioned ottomans. Bedside tables have porcelain or brass reading lamps, and headboards are silk-upholstered with a delicate floral print. Italian marble bathrooms feature either single or double washbasins, bidets, and heated towel racks. Complimentary high-speed Internet access, satellite TVs, and VCRs are proivded. Most rooms have a view toward Westminster or over Piccadilly.

DINING:
Dress code: Men are asked to wear a jacket and tie in the Rivoli Bar, Palm Court, and the Ritz Restaurant. Jeans are not acceptable in these areas.

The Palm Court - Tea at the Ritz is as famous as the hotel itself. Every afternoon the Palm Court fills to capacity as delicate sandwiches, freshly baked scones, pastries, champagne, and a selection of teas and coffee are served beneath a glass ceiling hung with chandeliers. Butter-colored walls, grand marble columns, and a fountain adorned with golden cherubs complete the scene. Although hotel guests can usually be accommodated on short notice, pre-booking is strongly advised.

The Ritz Restaurant - A palatial dining room where the Queen hosted her Golden Jubilee private party in 2002. Ten chandeliers, linked by golden garlands, hang from a mural ceiling, watched over by a gleaming statue of Poseidon. At every table are cherub-stemmed silver bowls of roses, while diners enjoy confit of duck leg with foie gras or roasted monkfish wrapped in pancetta. Two-story glass doors open to a garden terrace for alfresco summer dining in the summer. Open for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner, with live music on weekends.

The Rivoli Bar - This intimate bar is strikingly designed in art deco style, with Venetian-glass ceiling pendants, and polished camphor-wood columns inset with Lalique panels. Guests relax in leopard-print armchairs or at the marble-topped bar to order from a menu of savory light dishes and cocktails. Open from late morning until early hours.