Claridge's

Claridge's began as a single Brook Street house taken over by William and Marianne Claridge, expanded by buying the neighbours one at a time, and was rebuilt wholesale in red brick in 1898. Its reputation was sealed in 1860 when Queen Victoria called on the Empress Eugénie there, and it has functioned as an annexe to the diplomatic world ever since. During the Second World War so many exiled European royals lived in the building that a caller asking for "the King" was reportedly asked which one.

The Art Deco identity arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, when Basil Ionides remodelled the public rooms in silvered, geometric, restrained Deco — an English interpretation, cooler and less theatrical than the French or American versions. The chequerboard foyer floor, the mirrored lifts and the stepped plasterwork all date from that campaign and remain the reference point for every Deco revival hotel built since.

The rooms

190 rooms and suites, split roughly evenly between Victorian-styled rooms in soft greys and creams and full Art Deco rooms with lacquered furniture, chrome detailing and original 1930s fittings. Specify which you want at the time of booking — the difference is total, and the hotel is happy to accommodate the request.

Lead-in Queen rooms are compact; the Superior King is the first category where the room feels like the price. The Deco Junior Suites on the Brook Street frontage are the signature purchase, several retaining original Ionides-era bathrooms in black and jade tile. At the top, the Grand Piano Suite and the Linley Suites occupy the penthouse levels with terraces over Mayfair rooftops.

Eating, drinking, and the December tree

• The Foyer & Reading Room — afternoon tea under a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, with a string quartet. The most sociable tea of the five.
• Claridge's Restaurant — a Deco dining room serving a modern British menu with strong shellfish and game sections.
• The Fumoir — twenty-odd seats, Lalique glass, black lacquer. The best small bar in Mayfair and almost impossible to get into after 21:00.
• Davies and Brook space — the hotel's second restaurant unit, periodically re-tenanted; check the current occupant before booking dinner.
• The Christmas tree — commissioned annually from a different designer since 2009, and a genuine national event in late November.

"If the Savoy is theatre and the Ritz is ceremony, Claridge's is society — you come to be seen crossing that chequerboard floor."

Key specifications

Address	Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR, United Kingdom
Founded	1856; current red-brick building 1898; Deco remodelling 1926–1932
Rooms & suites	190 (including 62 suites)
Designers	C. W. Stephens (building), Basil Ionides and Oswald Milne (Art Deco interiors)
Dining	The Foyer & Reading Room, Claridge's Restaurant, The Fumoir, Claridge's Bar
Wellness	Five-floor subterranean spa with pool, opened 2023
Nearest stations	Bond Street (4 min walk), Green Park (9 min)
Ownership	Maybourne Hotel Group
Official website	claridges.co.uk

Indicative 2026 pricing

• Queen Room — from £820 per night
• Superior King Room — from £980 per night
• Deco Junior Suite — from £1,850 per night
• Penthouse and Linley Suites — from £5,500 per night
• Afternoon tea in the Foyer — from £90 per person
• Spa day pass (resident guests only) — included in room rate

Verdict

How to book well

State "Art Deco room, please" in the reservation notes, and ask for a Brook Street frontage above the third floor. If you are visiting in the last week of November, the tree unveiling fills the hotel; book accommodation four to five months out or accept a January stay instead, when rates soften by twenty to thirty per cent.

Book on the official site