by Dee Delaney

Created on: January 07, 2011

Claridge's is well known as one of the premier London hotels, offering five star accomodation, afternoon teas, bars, and the famous Gordon Ramsey Restaurant. It is also known as Mayfair's Art Deco jewel, due to the wonderfully opulent restoration and recreation of a bygone era.

Claridges was founded in 1812 as Mivart's Hotel and was sold in 1854 to a Mr and Mrs Claridge who owned a smaller hotel next door. It was not until the hotel was purchased by Richard D'Oyly Carte, the theatrical impresario, that the new Claridge's, built by George Trollope & Sons, opened in 1898. The final transformation into the Art Deco listed building that we know today was made by Basil Ionides, a pioneer of Art Deco design and a specialist in interior decoration. He transformed the restaurant and other areas, using the finest British craftsmen and turning it into a building that retains its beauty and reputation to this day.

~~Booking Afternoon Tea~~
It is easy to check out prices, etc on the Claridge's website, and just as easy to book online using the link provided. If direct contact is preferred, it is possible to call the reservation line, which is open Monday-Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.

Clicking onto the online reservation form will allow you to choose a first and second preferred date to visit. A drop-down menu indicated whether afternoon tea of a full meal is requested and offers a first and a second preferred time. A form with contact details then needs to be completed.

Almost immediately an email arrives to confirm the booking. No form of deposit is needed. Although there is no mention of dress code, the website instructs that elegant smart but casual clothes should be worn. The only clothing that Claridge’s do not allow are flip-flops, shorts, ripped jeans, vests, sportswear, baseball caps.

~~Arrival~~
Arrival by taxi is highly recommended: as you draw up outside the ornate decorative revolving doors, two liveried doormen leap out to open taxi doors and escort you into the elaborate entrance lobby.  This lobby used to be the turning circle for guests’ horse-drawn carriages; the entrance was covered by an 18-foot-high ceiling in 1929 and transformed into one of London’s finest hotel lobbies. Dominated by the grand staircase and fantastic Art Deco doorways leading off to all four corners of the compass, this lobby is breathtaking, with its black and white floor tiles and crackling log fires in the huge marble fireplaces. For Christmas 2010 it is decorated

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