#3 in Top 20 London for Business · ★★★★★
Claridge's
Mayfair, fashion-week and deal-week share the lobby — the British power-breakfast headquarters.
Mayfair, fashion-week and deal-week share the lobby — the British power-breakfast headquarters.
"Mayfair, fashion-week and deal-week share the lobby — the British power-breakfast headquarters."
Claridge's has occupied the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in the centre of Mayfair since 1898. The hotel is owned by the Maybourne Hotel Group (the Reuben brothers) and is the most-decorated London hotel of the post-war period — the British royal family has used Claridge's as the unofficial state-residence for foreign monarchs and presidents since the Second World War. Two hundred and three rooms and suites, the Royal Suite at 4,000 square feet is the largest hotel suite in London. The Foyer & Reading Room (the lobby afternoon-tea space) is the most-recognisable hotel room in London and the working business-breakfast venue for a generation of Mayfair lawyers and private bankers. Davies and Brook restaurant (currently under chef Daniel Humm) holds three Michelin stars and is the working business-dinner room. The Claridge's Bar and the Fumoir (the smaller cocktail room) are the after-meeting spaces. Claridge's is the right pick for the London business trip with the highest-stakes Mayfair client — the senior law-firm partner, the Royal-family-office representative, the M&A close — where the address is the deal.
The Royal Suite (4,000 sqft flagship) or a Linley Suite (David Linley-designed, the design-led upper tier).
Book the Foyer for 7.30am working breakfast — the table near the staircase is the editor's table. Davies and Brook 7pm is the business dinner; book six weeks ahead. The Fumoir is the discreet after-meeting room; the corner banquette is reservation-only and books out a week ahead.
Claridge's sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in London for Business list. It scored an aggregate 9.8/10 across the three editorial criteria — competitive against the field but, on business-specific factors, the angle above is what earned its rank. For the alternatives in the same London neighbourhood, see Mayfair, Brook Street and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
If you have already chosen the dates, our editor recommends booking the room twelve weeks ahead. The best suites with the right view orientation go first, and inventory for the popular months is quoted in months, not weeks. Suite-level rooms with private plunge pools or terraces — the ones that earn this rank — are typically the first to sell out.