London's undeniably posh West End plays home to some of the city's most impressive—and oftentimes hoity toity—hotels: The Ritz, Langham, and Dorchester all cater to an upper crust clientele who know luxury and expect its delivery in spades. ]]> Heidi Atwal 2011-12-05T16:52:12-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/3/28/143111/242

Tea at the Ritz with a side of anarchy, anyone? Much as, according to the Early Show today, it may seem all pre-Royal Wedding smiles in the capital, London’s seen a number of political protests turning violent recently – and the latest, on Saturday, against government spending cuts, ended with the lovely Ritz façade being trashed.

Ex Big Brother contestant Seany O'Kane, who happens to be a Facebook friend of ours, uploaded these pictures on Saturday showing the façade scuffed up with graffiti and spattered with paint

He wrote that the place was “trashed”:

Wow!! The Ritz Hotel in London is mashed up!! Anarchists in full riot mode!!

Christmas shopping, Ritz-style...

Childhood in England is a dream-breaker. Every little person (yep, us too) starts out convinced they’re going to be a footballer or a princess; then they grow up (and decide they’d rather be a banker or a glamour model). But we just got a whiff of our youthful enthusiasm back with the news that, although we might have passed our marrying-a-prince sell-by date, at least we stand a chance of being washed by one. Kind of.

See, The Ritz has just announced it's stocking a new range of toiletries. And it’s bypassed the normal Aveda-L’Occitane-Molton Brown stand-off by opting for a rather classier brand: the Highgrove Guest Collection. ]]> juliab 2009-12-15T10:25:55-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/3/14459/1689 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/ritzclub.jpg" class="top"><p> <a href="http://www.theritzclub.com"><b>The Ritz Club</b> inside <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Ritz+London/ian/145127"><b>The Ritz London</b></a> in Piccadilly Circus is a members-only club that features a swank old-school bar, an award-winning restaurant and get this, a casino that's open daily from 2pm to 6am. 6am!<p> There's an annual membership fee but if you're a guest of the hotel and you're over the age of 18, you can pop into the <a href="http://www.theritzclub.com/tour/"><b>Ritz Club</b></a> to hang out, completely gratis.You can even bring along up to six guests, which is an excellent perk for business travelers. (We're not so sure six of your rowdy 18-year-old friends would be very welcome.) <p> The dress code is simply "smartly dressed", no topcoat and tails needed but gentlemen guests juliana 2009-11-04T17:24:50-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/28/145020/281

There’s some big spending (sorry) going down in London right now if the Mail on Sunday is to be believed. Apparently, singer Dame Shirley Bassey is about to up sticks from her pad in Monaco to spend the next two months living at The Ritz as she promotes her new album.

And there will be no entry level room for her - she’s going to stay in an executive suite, which comes in at a cool £4500 ($7137) a night. Wonder if they do discounts for long stays? If not, she'll be ringing up a hefty £270,000 ($429k) bill.]]> juliab 2009-09-29T13:08:50-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/