Claridge's Review

Service

The staff are the best thing about Claridge's, and they're why it stops feeling grand so quickly. Plenty of them have been here for decades. They have your name by the second time you cross the lobby, they remember how you take your coffee at breakfast, and they're funny with it.

The small things are done well. If you're here for a birthday or an anniversary there's chilled champagne and a handwritten card in the room. The concierge desk is one of the best in London for getting a table that looks fully booked, and they'll ask you afterwards how dinner was, so I'd email them as soon as you've booked.

It does slip at the edges. With 269 rooms and a lobby full of people who aren't staying, the welcome at the front door can be cooler than the welcome inside. I've had to push the door myself, and the bars will turn you away when they're full, guest or not.

Rooms

The rooms are lovely once you're past the entry level. They came out of a seven-year rebuild, so nothing feels tired, and the marble bathrooms are the best part, most with a deep tub and a separate shower and, in the newer rooms, a heated floor and a Japanese toilet. The beds are superb, and the soft drinks in the minibar are free. They come in art deco or traditional English, and you can't choose online, so if you care, tell us and we'll ask.

I'd skip the bottom two categories. The Superior Room is about 375 square feet and looks into the inner courtyard, and so does the Mayfair Room above it, so both are quiet but can be dark, and a few face a wall. Book a Claridge's Room, around 540 square feet with tall windows over the street, or if you're celebrating, a junior suite with a balcony, which is the one that feels like the photographs. The same category can look completely different from one floor to the next, so don't fall in love with a picture.

Until the offices opposite are finished at the end of 2027, the Brook Street and Davies Street side can wake you with lorries in the morning. If you sleep late, ask for a room on the Brook's Mews side or a high floor.

Food and drink

Afternoon tea and the bars are wonderful, but there's nowhere here I'd book for a great dinner. Tea in the Foyer is my favourite thing at Claridge's, under the huge Chihuly glass sculpture with a pianist and a cellist playing, the sandwiches coming until you say stop and the scones warm. They'll do the whole thing gluten free without it feeling like second best. It's about $130 a person and fills up weeks ahead, so book it when you book your room, and from early November it switches to the festive tea, which costs more.

The old restaurant reopened in June 2026 as Dante Mayfair, a permanent home for the New York bar. It's fun and loud in a good way, with lobster linguine, a very good burger and a martini hour from three to five, and I'd go for a Garibaldi and a long lunch. When the room is full the service drags, though, and I wouldn't go expecting a great dinner.

For a drink, the Fumoir is tiny, dark and all Lalique glass, and it doesn't take bookings, so go early, or reserve a table in the prettier Painter's Room. Claridge's Bar does excellent fish and chips if you just want supper. For a serious meal, The Connaught is a ten-minute walk and has three restaurants, and you can charge them to your room here.

Setting

The location is the best in London for a first trip, and the lobby is a real 1930s room. Bond Street is at the end of the road, Hyde Park is ten minutes' walk, Soho is fifteen, and the Elizabeth line from Bond Street station gets you to Heathrow in about half an hour. I love walking in to the black and white marble floor, a fire burning, enormous flowers and mirrors everywhere. It's busy from breakfast until late with tea guests and people who've come in for a look, so if you'd like a hotel that feels private, this isn't it, and from late November the Christmas tree brings queues to the door.

The Mayfair streets around the hotel are quiet at night. The one blot is the building site across the junction, which you'll notice every time you step outside.

Downstairs the spa by Andre Fu, all pale stone and timber, is beautiful, but the pool is small and good only for floating, and the gym is compact. Children can swim only between eight and ten in the morning. There are no views to speak of from any room, so this is a hotel you book for what's inside.

Value

No, it isn't good value, though for a first London trip or a big birthday I'd still pay it. The Superior Room starts at around $1,100 a night in January and February and is nearer $1,400 for most of the year, the Claridge's Room I'd book is about $1,600, and junior suites start around $2,800. You're paying for the building, the address and the people. Choose a rate that includes breakfast.

You're not paying for space or a view, and newer hotels give you more of both for the same money. The Peninsula London has the big rooms and a proper swimming pool, and The Emory has the newest rooms and real privacy. If you do book Claridge's, January to March brings the better rates, and the hotel often has a fourth-night-free offer.