Review

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With a guest register that includes Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill and Jackie Onassis, Claridge’s is London’s most-loved luxury hotel. And with its welcoming committee of whatever-madam-desires doormen, international flags flying and attendant paparazzi, arriving does feel rather like something of an arrival. That it was the hotel of choice for many a royal exile during World War II is testament to its majesty. The jewel in the hotel’s crown is the stunning Art Deco lobby, topped by a vast Dale Chihuly chandelier made of 300 hand-blown glass pieces. New York-based designer Thierry Despont was responsible for renovating the building in 1999 and wisely chose to restore and update its 1930s styling. Many of the hotel’s 203 five-star rooms have an Art Deco theme while others take their inspiration from the opulence of pre-revolutionary France; boldly tiled marble and chrome bathrooms are exceptionally spacious. Its added extras are equally superlative: chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant is arguably London’s best (and most expensive; see EAT), its salon the place for afternoon tea, and its David Collins-designed cocktail bar the venue of choice for Kate Moss’ infamously debauched 30th birthday bash.