The lighting in The Ritz's famous Palm Court was designed to make 'ladies look beautiful'

4 July 2019, 14:48 | Updated: 4 July 2019, 14:55

The Ritz was specially designed for women. Picture: Getty Images/The Ritz

The Ritz hotel in Piccadilly has special lighting in order to make women look more beautiful.

An ITV documentary took viewers inside one of the greatest hotels in the world, The Ritz on Wednesday night - and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The glitzy establishment has previously accommodated the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Anna Wintour and even The Queen.

And during the first episode of the fly-on-the-wall series, it was revealed that the room which houses the hotel’s iconic afternoon tea - Palm Court - was originally designed “with women in mind".

The Ritz's Executive Chef, John Williams explained that when it was opened all the way back in 1906, hotelier César Ritz demanded that the glass-ceilinged venue was decorated with pastel colours and flattering lighting.

Palm Court is at the centre of The Ritz. Picture: The Ritz

"César Ritz always insisted to have a peachy pink glow, and that was to actually help make the ladies look beautiful,” he said.

Adding: "If the ladies looked beautiful, the gentlemen would follow."

The hotel's Deputy Chairman, Andrew Love then revealed that The Ritz was actually the first hotel in which women could go without a male chaperone.

He said: "Women by and large at the turn of the 20th century were unable to go unaccompanied anywhere.

"But it's well recorded that this was the first hotel that ladies could come unchaperoned for afternoon tea."

The Palm Court also features high walls of gleaming mirrors, birdcage chandeliers and a huge vibrant floral display at the centre of the room.

Elsewhere in the programme, hoteliers gave viewers a glimpse into the £5000 a night suites which come with feather and down pillows and private butlers.

The Ritz actually has 136 bedrooms, none of which use duvet covers, instead the hotel has only blankets for it's guests.

However, while The Queen loves it so much that she celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2002 and 80th birthday in the venue, Editor of Vogue Anna Wintour isn’t completely sold on the decor.

She confessed: “I don’t like a lot of stuff in a hotel room and [at the Ritz] they have a lot of pictures of the original founder and old movie stars.

“I used to spend a long time putting them into drawers so I didn’t have to look at them, but now they’re just gone.”