Claridge's
London, United Kingdom
The Art Deco drawing room of Mayfair, and Britain's unofficial second palace.
During the Second World War so many exiled monarchs sheltered at Claridge's that a Churchill aide reportedly asked to speak to "the King" and had to be asked which one. That sense of the hotel as a neutral embassy for the very grand has never quite faded.
The building is a study in restrained Art Deco, all sweeping black-and-white marble, silver and mirror, and the service is the finest in London: attentive without hovering, warm without being familiar. Staff remember your name, your drink, and the fact that you don't like to be spoken to before coffee.
The Verdict
Some London hotels are flashier, and several are newer. None feels quite so much like being let in on a very old, very civilised secret. Book the tea even if you don't stay.
Tea beneath the shimmering Chihuly chandelier in the foyer, a pianist playing, while three generations of a family celebrate something they won't explain.
You May Also Like
Alpine Grande DameBadrutt's Palace
A fairy-tale silhouette above a frozen lake, where the Engadine light, the Cresta Run and 130 years of aristocratic après-ski all still hold court.
From $1,250 / night
Riviera LegendHôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Twenty-two acres of pine and palm on the tip of Cap d'Antibes, a seawater pool blasted into the rock, and a cash-only history of impossible glamour.
From $1,800 / night
Island RetreatBelmond Hotel Cipriani
On the tip of Giudecca, the Cipriani offers the one thing Venice never can: space. An Olympic-length pool, Casanova's old garden, and no crowds at breakfast.
From $1,450 / night