In December 1951, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer met World Jewish Congress president Nahum Goldmann at Claridge's to begin secret negotiations on German reparations to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. The meeting happened here because the hotel offered a kind of neutrality — a Mayfair address that belonged to no country's territory, that had hosted kings, presidents, and exiled governments, that understood how to keep things quiet. It was the kind of thing Claridge's had always been for: the place where consequential people went when they needed somewhere consequential to go.
The hotel began as Mivart's, founded in 1812 in a conventional London terrace house and expanded by absorbing neighbouring properties. In 1854, the founder's son sold it to William and Marianne Claridge, who owned a smaller hotel next door. The Claridges combined the two operations and eventually settled on their own name. The hotel's reputation crystallised in 1860 when Empress Eugenie of France made an extended visit and entertained Queen Victoria within its walls. Baedeker's 1878 guide to London listed Claridge's as 'The first hotel in London.' The theatrical impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte — founder of the rival Savoy — purchased it in 1893 and demolished the old buildings to erect the present structure, opened in 1898. The new hotel was built by George Trollope and Sons and is now a Grade II listed building.
During the Second World War, Claridge's became a refuge for royalty and governments driven from their countries by the German advance. King Peter II of Yugoslavia and his wife Queen Alexandra lived in exile here for much of the war. In 1945, suite 212 was reportedly ceded by the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia for a single day — 17 July — so that the Crown Prince Alexander could be born on technically Yugoslav soil and thus maintain his legitimacy to the throne. No documentary evidence for this arrangement now survives, but the story has persisted for decades. When Winston Churchill was unexpectedly defeated in the general election of 1945, he was briefly without a London home and took a suite at Claridge's while arrangements were made.
In the 21st century, Claridge's has reinvented itself as a venue for contemporary art alongside its traditional role. Damien Hirst has placed over 200 prints in guest rooms, installed sculptures in the lobby during Frieze week, and designed a butterfly skylight that illuminates the building's interior. The penthouse now holds 75 of his works. Illustrator David Downton became the hotel's first artist in residence in 2011, creating sketches of guests including Kristin Scott Thomas and Sarah Jessica Parker for the Talking Heads Gallery. Annie Morris painted illustrations directly on the walls of the Painter's Room bar. Each Christmas, a fashion house or designer creates the lobby tree — past participants have included Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Louboutin, and Burberry.
The restaurant has had its share of turbulence alongside the glamour. Gordon Ramsay ran the main dining room for twelve years before losing its Michelin star in 2010 and closing in 2013 after, in the hotel's phrasing, it had 'lost its way.' The replacement restaurant, Fera, won a Michelin star in 2015 before closing in 2018. In 2012, for ten extraordinary days while the Copenhagen restaurant was closed for renovation, Noma relocated to Claridge's, its staff serving a £195 nine-course New Nordic menu that included live ants flown in from Denmark. Between 2016 and 2021, the hotel underwent a vast renovation project — the top floors replaced by a four-storey extension with a penthouse pool and private lake; a five-level basement excavated beneath the Art Deco 1920s wing, the work done largely by hand to avoid disturbing the guests above. The hotel stayed open throughout.
Located at 51.513°N, 0.148°W at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, central London. Oxford Street is one block north; Bond Street tube station is the closest Underground stop. London Heathrow Airport (EGLL) is approximately 15 miles west.