A Night at The Ritz London: The Complete VIP Arrival Experience

At the western end of Piccadilly, where Green Park meets the grandeur of St James's, stands one of London's most enduring monuments to the art of hospitality. The Ritz London — opened in 1906 by César Ritz and designed by the architects Mewès and Davis — has hosted royalty, heads of state, writers, film stars and the quietly powerful for over a century. To stay at The Ritz is not simply to choose a hotel; it is to make a statement about how one believes a night in London should be spent.

But the quality of a night at The Ritz begins before you step through its Piccadilly doors. The journey to the hotel — from Heathrow's Terminal 5, from a private jet at Farnborough, from a penthouse in Mayfair, or from St Pancras after the Eurostar — is the opening movement of the experience. FFGR London ensures that opening movement is as composed and distinguished as everything that follows.

The entrance to The Ritz on Piccadilly is one of the most photographed hotel facades in the world. The pale stone Edwardian baroque facade, the burgundy awnings, the liveried doormen — it is a setting that rewards a considered arrival. To pull up in a Rolls-Royce Ghost or a Mercedes S-Class Long, to have your door opened by the chauffeur, to be greeted by the Ritz doorman before you have taken a single step, is to begin the stay in precisely the right register.

The practical aspects of arriving at The Ritz by private car are worth understanding. Piccadilly itself is a major thoroughfare, and vehicle access to the hotel entrance requires a driver who knows the precise drop-off protocol. FFGR drivers are thoroughly familiar with the approach from both the east — from Green Park and St James's — and the west, from Hyde Park Corner. The vehicle is positioned, the door is opened, and your arrival is managed without the awkward pause that characterises a less considered transfer.

The interior of The Ritz is an exercise in Louis XVI-inspired grandeur that has been maintained, restored and enriched over more than a century of continuous operation. The Long Gallery, which stretches the length of the hotel from the Piccadilly entrance towards Arlington Street, is one of the great hotel corridors in the world — gilded, mirrored and impeccably proportioned. It sets a tone that permeates everything from the service to the floral arrangements in the rooms.

Accommodation ranges from Classic Rooms on the upper floors to the elaborate William Kent and Royal Suites. The latter, on the first floor overlooking Green Park, spans over 2,000 square feet and has been used by HM The King and visiting heads of state. Whatever the category, every room is furnished with antiques, hand-woven fabrics, and the kind of obsessive attention to comfort that has characterised the hotel's housekeeping since its founding.

The Ritz Restaurant is one of fewer than ten restaurants in London to hold a Michelin star, and its dining room — overlooking Green Park, decorated in the original Louis XVI style with gilded columns and hand-painted ceiling panels — is widely considered the most beautiful in the city. The kitchen delivers classical French cuisine of genuine refinement, with a wine list that is among the most comprehensive in London.

Afternoon Tea at The Ritz requires advance reservation of several weeks, sometimes months, and is conducted across two sittings in the Palm Court — the hotel's central atrium space, flooded with natural light and adorned with an extraordinary floral centrepiece. The tradition of finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones with Devonshire clotted cream, and patisserie served on three-tiered stands to the accompaniment of live piano music is one of London's most coveted experiences.