Claridge's

Claridge's was founded in 1812 as Mivart's Hotel,[1] in a conventional London terraced house, and it grew by expanding into neighbouring houses. In 1854, the founder (the father of biologist St. George Jackson Mivart) sold the hotel to a Mr and Mrs Claridge, who owned a smaller hotel next door. They combined the two operations, and after trading for a time as "Mivart's at Claridge's", they settled on the current name. The reputation of the hotel was confirmed in 1860 when Empress Eugenie made an extended visit and entertained Queen Victoria at the hotel.

In its first edition of 1878, Baedeker's London listed Claridge's as "The first hotel in London".[2]

Drawing of the current version of Claridge's was published in 1897, the year before the reopening.

Richard D'Oyly Carte, the theatrical impresario and founder of the rival Savoy Hotel, purchased Claridge's in 1894, as part of The Savoy Group, and shortly afterwards demolished the old buildings and replaced them with the present ones. This was prompted by the need to install modern facilities such as lifts and en suite bathrooms. From 1894 to 1901, Édouard Nignon was the hotel chef.

The new Claridge's, built by George Trollope & Sons, opened in 1897.[3] It is a Grade II listed building.[4] The hotel has 203 rooms and suites and around 400 staff.

After the First World War, Claridge's flourished due to demand from aristocrats who no longer maintained a London house, and under the leadership of Carte's son, Rupert D'Oyly Carte, an extension was built in the 1920s. During the Second World War it was the base of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's forces in exile and home of Peter II of Yugoslavia. He and his wife spent much of the Second World War in exile at Claridge's, and suite 212 was supposedly ceded by the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia for a single day (17 July 1945) to allow their heir, Crown Prince Alexander, to be born on Yugoslav soil,[5] although no documentary evidence now exists to support the story.[6] The prince and his family are regular return guests.

At the end of the Second World War, when unexpectedly defeated in the General election of 1945, Winston Churchill was temporarily without a London home and took a suite at Claridge's.[7]

In December 1951, West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer secretly met World Jewish Congress president Nahum Goldmann at Claridge's to begin negotiations on German reparations to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.[8]

Well-known actors, directors, and entertainers who have used Claridge's include Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, regular visitor Alfred Hitchcock, Brad Pitt, Joan Collins, Mick Jagger, U2 and Whitney Houston. In his memoir The Moon's a Balloon David Niven wrote that for film producer Alexander Korda, "Home was the penthouse at Claridge's". The hotel lobby and several guestrooms appear in the 2001 Stephen Poliakoff BBC television drama Perfect Strangers. Claridge's is known for hosting visiting royalty and guests of the Royal Family. The late King Hassan of Morocco was known to travel with his own mattress, but at the hotel he used a Savoy Mattress. Impressed by the quality, he ordered 24 identical mattresses from the Savoy for his palace.[9]

In 1998, the group of hotels—along with the later-added Connaught—was sold for $867 million to two American private-equity funds, Blackstone and Colony Capital.[10] In 2004, they both retained Deutsche Bank to sell[10] The Savoy Group, including Claridge's, to a group of Irish investors, which eventually sold the Savoy Hotel and Savoy Theatre and renamed the group Maybourne Hotel Group.[11]

In 2007, Claridge's gained worldwide media coverage by introducing a Water Menu containing bottled waters sourced globally and from the United Kingdom, such as Malmberg and Iskilde.[12]

The Maybourne Hotel Group includes two other five-star luxury hotels in London, The Berkeley and The Connaught.