Christmas is the most special time of the year at the hotel. The main attraction at Christmas is our showstopper tree, which takes pride of place in the hotel lobby. Our special tree takes a whole seven hours to decorate and even scaffolding is needed to fix all of the ornaments and lights in place, as it is a staggering 25ft tall.
The journey of our Christmas tree starts earlier in the year when our florist Paul Thomas travels to the Highlands to handpick our tree from a choice of three which are all especially grown for us. Paul also starts planning and selecting our Christmas decorations months in advance and travels to Paris to handpick a selection of unique ornaments.
Our Christmas decorations have always been traditional to match the interiors of the stunning building, they sparkle and drip in gold and velvet. There are over 10,000 decorations which are green, gold and red and over 6,500 lights make sure our tree is sparkly enough.
Paul Thomas, The Ritz London florist says ‘It is the most wonderful privilege to decorate the Ritz for Christmas. The décor of the hotel is such an inspiration. It almost tells you what to do! ‘Lavish’ is the word. I love to travel to the Maison Objet fare in Paris to source new decorations to add the collection we have built up over the years. Amongst my favourites for 2016 are some lovely large gold bells and the most beautiful ribbon I have ever seen- As soon as I saw it I had to have it, it just said ‘Ritz’.
The installation of the Christmas tree is like a military operation with a team of up to 10 people using scaffolding and ladders to cover every branch with decorations.
When you visit The Palm Court for your Christmas Afternoon Tea throughout the festive season be sure to have a close look at our decorations. You will see cherubs, teapots, luxuriously wrapped presents, deer’s and even our Afternoon Tea teapots all incorporated into the design.
The Ritz Restaurant is also transformed for the festive season with wreaths and a Christmas tree on display.
In case you are looking for gift inspiration or need a last-minute bauble for your tree, you can take home a memento of your visit to The Ritz. Our Christmas concierge will be selling a selection of festive gifts and vouchers which are beautifully wrapped and the perfect gift to share The Ritz experience. You can also taste our Executive Chef, John Williams, MBE exclusive Christmas pudding as they are for sale at £35 each.
We look forward to welcoming you all to The Ritz at this special time of year.
We are looking forward to stay at your hotel and
have a wonderfull Christmas out of our Home for the first time, is the Special place to be for this part of the year. My daughter will be delighfull.
Hi just wanted to say that the Christmas decorations look beautiful. and for as many years as I can remember I have wanted to have afternoon tea at the Ritz and this year I received a Christmas gift from my son Ross to have afternoon tea at the Ritz. Im so excited ????