The Ritz

To celebrate a retirement and a 21st birthday five ladies from my family aged from 21 to 62 took Tea at the Ritz on Friday and we were not disappointed. We were greeted by everyone from the Doorman to the cloakroom attendants. The waiters attendended to our every wish. The pianist's choice of music was delighful and added to the atmosphere. The welcome host enquired if we were celebrating a special occasion and unexpectedly presented my niece with a birthday cake whilst happy birthday was played by the pianist. The tea is the best in Britain, and more food than we could eat. A special place for that special occasion. Will be back soon.

I have always wanted to stay at The Ritz- well you hear so much about it, it is the hotel everyone thinks of when they think of London! But the truth of thematter is that it went rapidly downhill from the minute I steped out the car! I was running late for the theatre so I literally wanted to just hand my keys to the concierge as I so often do at Claridges ( where it is dealt with very swiftly) but no five minutes later the doddery concierge ( and no, I am not age-ist - he was under 50!) was still looking for a ticket to give me! Checking at reception was no quicker, although at least my partner could star spot, working in TV, thats a little by the by for me! But the biggest disapointment was the room, small, dated, faded furniture, nothing special at all, nothing more than one would hope for in an L80 a night country house hotel. Thankfully the bathroom had been revamped but was nothing special, standard bath, shower and vanity unit. There were good quality ath products but only one set of it, one shampoo, one shower/ bath gel, two soaps and one body lotion. No conditioner - I wish I had known!!!!! After my partner and I had had a bath and shower before going out to the theatre, there was nothing left for the morning and the turndown service didn't see any of the products get replenished, we did however recieve a not so useful bowl of stale chrisps! All in all I am glad I have 'done The Ritz' but I doubt I will be returning, in fututre I will be sticking with Claridges where the rooms are twice the size and the service is twice as efficient!

I have just enjoyed 4 days at the Ritz, and what a treat!

Location cannot be better. Close to piccadilly, regent street and trafalgar. 10-15 min to harrods and oxfordstreet. It has also good transport outside. Underground right outside and open doubledeckers for tour guiding start outside.

The service is beyound compare. The staff has an incredible feeling of the correct service level. It is never too much or too imposing. They seemed genuinly interested and not superficial, high nosed or "tip me attitude". I cannot praise the staff enough; checkin, checkout, dinner and breakfast personnel, door men and butler service.

Room.

We were lucky receive a upgrade to a suite at checkin. It was a rather spacious room with everything necessary including a laptop. The bed is really good. Everything very well maintained.

Food

The bar is definitely worth a visit. Intimite and fast service. Good champagne selection.

Dinner was the best experience. Great winecard and a good sommelier. I asked how many sommeliers they had. "6" ! During you eat an orchestra of 4 people played soft classic music. The food was very good and best of all again the service. It is so easy that it gets to much, that you cannot put down a glas without someone watching you over the shoulder and refill it. The Ritz had a very good feeling of that and you felt relaxed and not watched. The tea serving is great, especially the food, but a little commersial. We did not get a chance to order what tea serving would like and when we asked for the champagne. they served it together with tea, which then was cold when you finished the champagne. Generelly i felt a little stressed during the tea serving, many servants, could they remove anything, were we ready.

The porter adressed you by name and was very efficient, but i preferred the doormen, which was very helpful and attentive.

The staff at the SPA area were very skilled, friendly and attentive. Tried massage and reflexology.

One thing more and that is that Ritz is very well organised. We had several reservations for dinnings, massages, car transport and everything was always in order.

It is an remerable experience to stay at The Ritz . Unlike many other 5 star hotels in the world, not only because its history but for it personalised genuine service.