The grade II listed Ritz Hotel in London’s St James’s is to dig out a five-storey basement, to provide greater facilities for the iconic five-star hotel, enabling it to continue to compete with the world’s elite hotels.  It will be the biggest refurbishment in its 115-year history.
 
The £300 million five-storey basement will include a two-level spa, with a 20-metre swimming pool, gym, steam room, sauna, treatment rooms, juice bar, and a beauty salon.  On another level, secure parking will be provided for high profile guests, royalty and heads of state.  The extension will also provide an additional 53 bedrooms, 10% of which will be wheelchair accessible, bringing the total in the hotel to 191.  A demolished adjacent office block will provide the site for this extension.
 
The hotel is now owned by Qatari businessman Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri, having been sold by the Barclay family in March 2020 for £700 million.
 
The Ritz’s legendary Chairman Andrew Love leads a formidable team who have continued the renowned standards set by Cesar Ritz at the time of its foundation in 1906.   They have maintained the Hotel’s iconic status, with its historic elegance, impeccable service, impressive suites, Michelin starred restaurant, and world renowned afternoon tea in the Louis XVI Palm Court.
 
The impeccable service starts on arrival, with a welcoming Doorman, leading the way into the opulent interior.  I have regularly enjoyed the Ritz, whether for an event which is always superbly arranged, relaxing over a drink in the Art Deco Rivoli Bar, or dining in its magnificent restaurant.  Royalty and Hollywood stars have patronised the hotel over the years, and it was in the Marie Antoinette Suite that Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower and Charles De Gaulle met during the Second World War.  Charlie Chaplin was escorted by 40 police officers through his fans in 1921, Noel Coward was a regular diner, and Sir Roger Moore celebrated his knighthood there in 2003.  Scenes from Downton Abbey were filmed in the restaurant and J Paul Getty lived there after the war.  
 
More recently, Baroness Margaret Thatcher died at the Ritz, while recovering from a stroke.  The Queen Mother was a regular diner, and in 1999, Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall emerged from Annabel Elliot’s 50th birthday party to a blizzard of flashbulbs, their first picture in public. In 2002 Prince Charles awarded the hotel a Royal Warrant, and the Queen hosted his 54th birthday party at the Ritz.  Always a place for special events, in 2006 the Queen held her 80th birthday celebrations in the hotel and in the Ritz Club.
 
Executive Chef John Williams has maintained the restaurant’s Michelin starred status since 2017, climbing to ever higher culinary heights.  When Auguste Escoffier was Chef, a bell would be rung in the entryway by the Doorman, to warn of the imminent arrival of Royalty.
 
We look forward to the opening of the extended Ritz, as the hotel begins another chapter in its illustrious history.