Go BackThe Ritz was founded by famed Swiss hotelier César Ritz, who was the first manager of the equally luxurious Savoy Hotel from 1889 until 1897. He opened the Ritz on 24 May, 1906. The Ritz was built in neoclassical style, in the Louis XVI manner, during the Belle Époque to resemble a stylish Parisian block of flats, over arcades that consciously evoked the Rue de Rivoli. Its architects were Charles Mewès, who had previously designed Ritz's Hôtel Ritz Paris, and Arthur Davis, with engineering by Swedish engineer Sven Bylander. The Ritz was the first substantial steel-frame structure in London.
The Ritz Hotel, LondonSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ritz_1_db.jpg
Author: Dickbauch
Ritz personally managed much of the hotel's operation for many years. He hired world-famous chef Auguste Escoffier to provide cuisine to match the opulence of the hotel's decorations. He placed a special bell in the entryway so that the doorman could notify the staff of any impending arrival of royalty. The high standards he expected of his staff precipitated a dramatic shift in that industry's focus.
The Ritz is famous for its Palm Court, an opulently decorated cream-colored Louis XVI setting for "Tea at the Ritz", (although, strictly speaking, it modelled after Tea at the Savoy) and illustrious diners included King Edward VII, Charlie Chaplin, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Noel Coward, Judy Garland, Gary Glitter, Evelyn Waugh and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The Rivoli Bar, built in the Art Deco style, was designed in 2001 by interior designer Tessa Kennedy, to look like a bar on the orient express. A table at the Restaurant still needs to be booked weeks in advance. The hotel has two private dining rooms, the Marie Antoinette Suite and the Trafalgar Suite.
List of Historical buildings in London
Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips
About this website
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Timothy Tye. All Rights Reserved.