The Ritz

Few hotels in London still insist you wear a jacket and tie to have tea with them, and The Ritz is proud of being one of them. Jeans and trainers are turned away at the door of the Palm Court, the setting for its famous afternoon tea, and that formality is exactly the point for the people who book it: this is a hotel trading on a version of London that has barely changed since it opened on Piccadilly in 1906.

The Palm Court itself, all gilt, marble columns and a resident pianist, is the room most people come for specifically, and the tea sittings (five of them a day, from 11.30am through to 7.30pm) are booked out weeks in advance for weekends. Expect finger sandwiches, warm scones with clotted cream, and a trolley of pastries, with prices starting from £95 per person and rising with a glass of Champagne added.

Beyond the tea, the hotel runs its own restaurant serving modern French inspired menus in an equally ornate dining room, and the Rivoli Bar is worth knowing about for a proper Martini in surroundings that feel like stepping onto a film set. Rooms, if you’re staying rather than just visiting for tea, start well into four figures a night and lean heavily into the classic English country house look rather than anything contemporary.

This suits a specific kind of guest: visitors who want the postcard version of London hospitality, couples marking an anniversary, or anyone who wants to say they’ve had tea at The Ritz at least once. It is not the place for a casual coffee or a quick bite, and the dress code alone rules out a lot of spontaneous visits.

The honest caveat is that some of the magic is now priced very deliberately: at nearly £100 a head before Champagne, the tea is one of the more expensive versions of a format you can get elsewhere in London for £45 to £60. You’re paying substantially for the room and the history as much as the food itself, which is good but not transformative. Book directly through the hotel’s website; slots for weekends need to be secured well in advance.