PICTURED: ANDREW LOVE (SENIOR DIRECTOR) & SAL GOWILI (GENERAL MANAGER).
Jermyn Street’s Open Door Series will be honouring the brands and businesses that make our street the home of gentleman’s style, and the pinnacle of British craftsmanship, by spotlighting your favourite brands, and the people behind them, as we invite you through our doors once more!
We are delighted that The Ritz London, one of, if not THE, most iconic hotel in the world, is now able to welcome their esteemed clientele through their doors once more.
The Ritz London first opened their hallowed halls on 25th May 1906. The vision of famed hotelier César Ritz was to open the grandest and most prestigious hotel in London, and he set about doing just that. César Ritz was a veteran of the hospitality industry, and had worked his way up from very humble beginnings; he was born in Switzerland to a poor family, the youngest of 13 children. After being apprenticed to a sommelier at a hotel in Brig at 15, he was dismissed. The sommelier was quoted as saying “You’ll never make anything of yourself in the hotel business. It takes a special knack, a special flair, and it’s only right that I tell you the truth—you haven’t got it.” Oh how wrong he was!
Ritz subsequently moved to Paris and began his career in earnest. He worked his way up from assistant waiter to restaurant manager, and took a position at the high-class Restaurant Voisin, where he waited on the likes of Alexandre Dumas and George Sand, learning the essentials of his trade. His first hotel managership came when he undertook the direction of the restaurant at the Grand Hotel in Nice. From this time on, Ritz moved regularly around Europe, following the seasons of society, wintering in mountainous ski resorts and summering on the riviera.
Ritz became a pioneer of luxury hotelliering, gaining a reputation for good taste and elegance, and he is thought to have coined the phrase ‘the customer is always right’. He was also particular about cleanliness, always using washable materials on the interior of his hotels, which was innovative at the time. His first hotel and restaurant acquisitions came in 1888, when he purchased the Hotel de Provence in Canne and the Restaurant de la Conversation and Minerva Hotel in Baden-Baden.
The iconic partnership between Ritz and the French chef Auguste Escoffier, who is credited with the inception of modern French haute cuisine, also began in 1888, when they opened Restaurant de la Conversation together. Like Ritz, Chef Escoffier revolutionised and elevated his industry, with his meticulous, hygienic and disciplined approach to both cooking and managing a kitchen. The two were invited to London by Richard D’Oyly Carte, to become the first manager and chef of the Savoy Hotel.
The Savoy under Ritz was an immediate success and attracted a bevvy of royalty and celebrities alike, headed by HRH The Prince of Wales. In March 1898, Ritz and Escoffier were sacked from The Savoy for fraud. Ritz wanted to sue for wrongful dismissal but was dissuaded by Escoffier, who believed it would be of more benefit to their careers if they quietly accepted.
Ritz went on to find investors to open hotels in Rome, Frankfurt, Monte Carlo, Salsomaggiore, Palermo, Biarritz, Wiesbaden, Lucerne and Menton, with other projects in Madrid, Cairo and Johannesburg. In 1896, he formed the Ritz Hotel syndicate with millionaire Alfred Beit and together they opened The Ritz London in 1906.
The Ritz London was an immediate success, and quickly gained a reputation as London’s best hotel. During its early years, the hotel enjoyed the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), who was a loyal client of César Ritz and is reputed to have said; “Where Ritz goes, I go”. Celebrities and royalty alike favoured The Ritz, with the Russian Prima Ballerina Anna Pavlova famously dancing inside the hotel in 1912. In the 1920s, The Ritz became the hotel of choice for Hollywood, with Charlie Chaplin requiring 40 police officers to escort him into the hotel and away from his crowds of adoring fans. Jackie Onassis was known to have described The Ritz as “like paradise”.
Throughout its history, The Ritz has enjoyed a close relationship with the British Royal Family, who have hosted several private celebrations within the hotel, including Her Majesty The Queen hosting a 54th birthday party for HRH The Prince of Wales in The Ritz Restaurant. In January 2002, The Ritz received a Royal Warrant for Banqueting and Catering Services, the first and only hotel to receive this honor. In October 2016, The Ritz Restaurant was recognised for its outstanding food and was awarded a Michelin star.
Almost 115 years to the day since its opening, The Ritz remains a pinnacle of luxury hospitality, retaining much of its original French château-style architecture, featuring Louis XVI décor and 24-carat gold leafing. To this day, one can step inside to experience the timeless magnificence and exceptional service that is the blueprint for luxury hospitality around the world. Jermyn Street is incredibly proud to call The Ritz London one of its own, and it brings us great joy to see guests able to step inside The Ritz London’s iconic doors, once more.