Press Releases

THE RITZ LONDON MARKS ITS 110TH BIRTHDAY IN 2016 WITH A CALENDAR OF BEST OF BRITISH CELEBRATIONS

London, February 2015: 2016 marks the 110th anniversary of The Ritz London, the iconic landmark conceived by renowned hotelier César Ritz in 1906. The byword for luxury and elegance, style and service, The Ritz has continued to play host to Royalty, aristocracy and the stars of stage and screen throughout its distinguished history, and has deservedly taken its rightful place amongst the great hotels of the world.

To mark this momentous birthday, The Ritz will be celebrating its position at the heart of London society and the bastion of Britishness with a number of exclusive partnerships throughout the year including a tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday year and the British summer social season.

Highclere Castle
The Ritz anniversary calendar of events will begin on 29th February 2016 with a two-night programme offering a small and exclusive group of hotel guests a private visit to Highclere Castle, the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and setting of acclaimed British television drama Downton Abbey. Guests will enjoy a threecourse lunch with wine in the splendid state dining room at Highclere Castle. After lunch an expert guide will give a private tour of The Egyptian Exhibition, (which explores the fascinating discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun by the 5th Earl of Carnarvon in 1922), followed by a selection of the magnificent state rooms. Guests will also be able to explore the grounds of the Castle. The Carnarvon family have often stayed at The Ritz and in fact the 6th Earl of Carnarvon lived at the hotel whenever he stayed in London from 1923 to 1980. Meanwhile, Downton Abbey has developed a close relationship with The Ritz, beginning in the fourth season, when a young footman won a place at the prestigious Ritz Academy to receive training in the hotel’s kitchens and, culminating in the finale of series six, where key scenes were filmed in the beautiful Ritz Restaurant.

Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebrations at Windsor Castle
The Ritz enjoys a longstanding relationship with the Royal family; during its early years the hotel enjoyed the patronage of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII. In 2002 The Ritz became the first and only hotel to receive a Royal Warrant, awarded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In recognition and celebration of this special relationship, The Ritz has created an incomparable package befitting the occasion of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations at Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2016.

The two-night accommodation package includes evening attendance at Her Majesty’s official birthday celebrations in the exclusive Waterloo Chamber of the Royal Enclosure, located in the private grounds at Windsor Castle. A member of the Royal family will be in attendance at the events on 12th, 13th and 14th May and Her Majesty The Queen will be present on 15th May. Ritz guests may select their preferred evening of attendance according to their arrival date. After transferring from London to Windsor, the evening will commence with a Black Tie Champagne and Canapé reception followed by a three-course gala dinner, two courses of which will be served before the Celebration with guests returning to the Waterloo Chamber after the Event to enjoy dessert, a selection of cheeses, wine and coffee. This is the only time of the year that visitors are allowed access to the grounds. The 90-minute celebration of The Queen’s life, love of horses, dedication to the Commonwealth and international affairs and deep involvement with the Navy, Army and Air Force will feature 900 horses, more than 1,500 participants from around the United Kingdom with a fusion of the latest video projection, LED effects and theatrical lighting.

During The Season, guests of The Ritz will be able to enjoy the social season essentials, including Royal Ascot and The Tennis Championships of Wimbledon, with bespoke quintessentially British experiences with which the hotel is intrinsically linked.

Royal Ascot
As part of a three-night residential stay guests will attend the world-famous Ladies Day at Royal Ascot, on 16th June. An intimate Ritz party will enjoy the exquisite hospitality on board The Rosebery, the beautifully restored 1966 Routemaster bus that has been redesigned to accommodate a total of 16 guests in the lower level bar and upper deck dining and viewing gallery. Described by Vanity Fair magazine as “the world’s prettiest party bus” and located in the rarefied Number 1 Car Park guests will also have The Royal Enclosure access. The day will include a welcome Ritz Rosebery cocktail, three-course gastronomic lunch, afternoon tea, and most importantly, all day access to the upper deck viewing gallery to watch the racing (and fashions) in supreme comfort.

The Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon
On 5th July 2016, Ritz guests participating in the three-night Wimbledon programme will attend The Ladies Quarter Finals at one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles, The Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon. The small Ritz group will enjoy sky-view hospitality in SW19’s hallowed grounds, elevated above the crowds yet close to the action in a spacious balcony and the debenture seats of Centre Court. The day will include a canapé reception with vintage Champagne, a four-course à la carte lunch menu with fine wines to match, traditional afternoon tea with English strawberries and cream, served by a private butler, as well as the tensions and dramas of live world class centre court tennis.

The two-night stay at The Ritz to experience Highclere Castle, the home of Downton Abbey, starts from £3,990, inclusive of Value Added Tax, based on two people sharing, and is available for guests arriving on 29th February 2016.

A two-night stay at The Ritz to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday at Windsor Castle starts from £4,660, inclusive of Value Added Tax, based on two people sharing, and is available for guests arriving on 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th May 2016.

A three-night stay at The Ritz to experience Ladies Day on board The Rosebery and within The Royal Enclosure at Ascot, starts from £5,710, inclusive of Value Added Tax, based on two people sharing, and is available for guests arriving on 15th June 2016.

A three-night night stay at The Ritz for the Ladies Quarter Finals at The Lawn Tennis Championships of Wimbledon, starts from £9,075, inclusive of Value Added Tax, based on two people sharing, and is available for guests arriving 4th July 2016.

For further information or to make a reservation, please telephone our Reservations Team on +44 (0)20 7493 8181 or email reservations@theritzlondon.com

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The Ritz London achieves a Gold Certificate from Green Tourism

London, August 2015: The Ritz London is delighted to have achieved the Gold certification from Green Tourism, the largest independent sustainable programme of its kind. Measured across ten different criteria throughout the hotel, including waste minimisation, social responsibility, energy saving and innovation, The Ritz London has achieved the highest level Gold Award overall, based on the level of the hotel’s sustainability.

Commenting on the Green Tourism Gold Award, Paul Winfield-Brown, Maintenance Manager at The Ritz London says; “We are delighted that our efforts to operate in a sustainable way have been recognised by Green Tourism with the Gold Award. As an iconic London landmark we recognise and are committed to contributing to promoting a greener future”.

Having first opened in 1906, almost 110 years ago, The Ritz London is committed at all levels of the business to both the conservation of the Grade II listed building as well as contributing to the future well-being of the environment. Recognising that the day-to-day services and operations have an impact on the environment, the team at The Ritz London strive to reduce the hotel’s environmental impact and carbon footprint through sustainable practices and minimising the potentially harmful effects of such activities wherever possible.

The Ritz London has partnered with CleanConscience, an innovative new company set up with the aim of reducing waste from the hospitality industry from hitting landfills, by recovering partly used soap and guest amenities. CleanConscience manually sort, sterilise and reprocess soaps and toiletries and distribute globally to people suffering from life threatening diseases, preventable by the simple process of hand washing with soap.

The Ritz London, a member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, has a policy of purchasing the freshest ingredients available to the market place for each season. Local suppliers and where possible fair-trade produce are utilised to reduce the carbon footprint, enabling the shortest distance from farm to fork. The kitchen has been recently renovated and now uses induction throughout with no gas, making it far more energy efficient. The new workspace enables the majority of cooking to be done on planchas, minimising the need for fats and oils and the many traditional pots and pans, and therefore reducing the amount of water used in washing up and grease in the drainage system.

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The Rivoli Bar Launches Its Unique Vintage Cocktail Collection

The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz London offers cocktails with a twist of time travel when it launched a unique collection of classics created with rare spirits from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz London is renowned as a purveyor of premium potable products, and with the launch of the new cocktail list the bartenders have used their talents of concoction to create a collection of classic cocktails with aged spirits, apéritifs and bitters; literally offering visitors to the bar the opportunity to taste a different time. The Vintage Cocktail menu offers a selection of seven classic cocktails – “El Presidente”, “Negroni”, “Gran Burdeos Old Fashioned”, “Rob Roy”, “Rusty Nail” and a “Sazerac”.

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