What happens at Christmas in London’s five-star hotels

The day I visited Claridge’s, the Emir of Qatar was joining the King and Queen for a banquet at Buckingham Palace. Judging by the clusters of very serious looking men standing around in the lobby, the extensive police presence and the public gathered outside, he appeared to be staying there. But even with all of that going on, there was still a magical atmosphere that only Claridge’s, freshly festooned in clouds of blue pine and magnolia branches, dried hydrangeas and reindeer moss, could pull off.

“I felt this was a year when people really needed to touch base with family and traditions, because everything in the news is so awful,” Richard Eagleton, CEO of Claridge’s Flowers, told me over a cuppa at the right-hand corner table in The Foyer that was both Winston Churchill’s and the Queen Mother’s favourite. “I want people to come in, breathe a sigh of relief and think: that’s just lovely”

This year’s decoration theme is The Palace of Stars (“A metaphor for feeling bright, shiny and positive”) and in addition to the foliage, much of it hand painted in rose gold and similar tones, the lobby and other public spaces are decked with velvet ribbons, crystal bells and lots of Art Deco stars. There are also 100 beautiful, hand-painted glass cloches by London artist Sam Wood, including a giant one over the front door.

Every year Claridge’s invites a designer with a personal connection to the hotel to do the Christmas tree in the lobby. This year it was Sir Paul Smith, who regularly stays over Christmas with his whole family, including grandchildren. Smith’s wonderfully bushy, 22ft tree (artificial – so better for the environment, I’m told), is quirky and beautiful but also one of the most traditional they’ve had.

It sits in a barrel wrapped in Paul Smith’s signature stripes and, alongside warmly coloured baubles and ribbons, more than 100 wooden bird houses hang, built for him by British artist Nik Ramage. Another flies overhead on a sort of zipwire, inspired by something similar Smith has strung up in his own famously cluttered office.

Recorded birdsong plays gently in the background and a delicious aroma of pine hangs in the air (it’s Paul Smith’s Merrymaker fragrance, laden with balsam, mahogany and cardamom). Small animals made from recycled wooden off-cuts sit around the base of the tree.

Three miles of fairylights – and 15,000 baubles

So much goes on behind the scenes to get the hotel ready, not least a final all-nighter in early November when 25 ‘elves’ decorate the entire hotel between the time guests go to bed and come down for breakfast the next morning, with around three miles of fairy lights, 15,000 baubles and enough garlands to go from the front door of Claridge’s to Bond Street Station.

They also put a real tree in every suite, sourced from a small family-run company in Kent that grows them to order, although anyone staying can book one if there’s space in their room.

The hotel makes a big fuss of little guests, with a letter from Santa sent to them at home beforehand, saying he is looking forward to meeting them. Then there’s a grotto where they meet, a pick ‘n’ mix sweetie trolley in the lobby, a Paddington Bear-themed treasure hunt (with a bear embroidered with each child’s name at the end), an amazing festive afternoon tea and milk and cookies at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Every guest, regardless of age, gets a Claridge’s stocking left on their door handle at midnight on Christmas Eve, filled with treats and toys.

While long, multiple-room, multigenerational family bookings are common, there is a Christmas package that gets snapped up before any other – a three-night stay that includes a horse-and-carriage ride around Mayfair on Christmas Day. They can only sell as many packages as there are horses (usually about 30). Some people stay at Claridge’s over Christmas because they’re in London visiting family or friends, others because it’s been a long-held dream they’ve been saving for. Then there are those who just want to put their feet up.

“I know an American couple that come every year for the big decoration reveal in November,” says Niamh Kemmy, Assistant Guest Relations Manager. “Then they go home for Thanksgiving and then they return for Christmas. People say it’s so relaxing here on Christmas Day, it feels like home.

‘We have extra staff in the lobby to help with selfies’

Meanwhile, over at The Ritz on Piccadilly, where this year’s theme is The Nutcracker, the lobby is looking glorious in its signature colour scheme of red and gold. The biggest annual challenge is how to keep the real 26 ft tree in the lobby, currently bobbing with beautifully carved Nutcracker toy soldiers, looking alive and sprightly from mid-November until it comes down on January 6. There are also real trees in every room that can fit them.

“So many people come in off the street to look at our Christmas decorations and our tree that we have extra staff on hand in the lobby to help with selfies,” says Antonella Santoni, Director of Rooms. “Others might book our festive afternoon tea. We’re getting through almost 3,000 minced pies a week at the moment.”

The Ritz has a lot of regulars, with generation after generation of the same family returning, so they pride themselves on knowing the individuals, their likes and dislikes, especially the children, who will receive traditional toys from the hotel on arrival, stockings (conveniently, every room has a fireplace on which to hang them) and gifts from Father Christmas, who will do the rounds on the big day. This year, guests in signature suites will also receive a limited edition Ritz Monopoly.

The Savoy – where snow is guaranteed

At The Savoy, another of the city’s grande dames, on the Strand, the beautiful foyer is a Narnia-like twinkling winter wonderland. There’s also a new all-day dining restaurant, Gallery, which I mention because I’m in love with its Chicken Tikka Pie – my tip for Boxing Day lunch.

“We have quite a lot of guests who are grinches and don’t like Christmas,” says Belinda Bowles, the hotel’s Creative Floral Design Manager. “So my aim is always to change them, take them back to their childhood when maybe they did. This year we’re celebrating the magic of Christmas in London historically and referencing the first show at the Savoy Theatre in 1882, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, in which the fairy dancers had tiny electric lights powered by small battery packs tucked into the folds of their costumes. The first fairy lights.”

For those staying, there’s a Christmas shop selling everything you could possibly want to kit out your room – from a Savoy Stocking (£125) and a Christmas Wreath on your bedroom door (£175) to Christmas crackers, baubles, candles and Savoy Teddy Bears. There’s also a pop-up Laurent Perrier garden out front, serving champagne in two heated chalets. Best of all, it ‘snows’ in the forecourt every day from 5pm to 7pm until Christmas Day, when it continues for the whole day.

The world’s best advent calendar?

I always like to visit a couple of more contemporary hotels, so next up was Shangri-La at The Shard in London Bridge, where I found a whimsical, Steampunk-inspired Christmas tree in the ground floor lobby. It is adorned with red ribbons and baubles, gold industrial cogs and custom-made red airships.

Up on level 35 at the hotel check-in, a giant round Christmas wreath in one window frames the view of St Paul’s Cathedral and there are clusters of wild tree branches sprayed gold with red baubles hanging from them. Here you will also find a deconstructed advent calendar with a wooden box for each day. Open the door on the day and find a card telling you what the prize is – anything from fine wine to a five-night holiday in Mauritius. To try to win it, guests are asked to take a picture of themselves next to the day’s box and post it on Insta and each day one ‘poster’ wins the day’s prize.

My final stop of the week is the new Peninsula London overlooking Wellington Arch. Only its second Christmas, it is clearly making up for lost time. While celebrating its Asian roots, its other priority is to make anyone who walks through the door feel welcome.

First you’re greeted by a real 22 ft Christmas tree, which looks pretty impressive in the triple height lobby and I’m told will be replaced with an identical one on December 15 to keep it looking fresh. Then there’s a Christmas market in the hotel’s central courtyard, selling mulled wine, chestnuts and raclette every Sunday between 4pm and 6pm and a pop-up crepe cart currently serving 200 portions per day.

Meanwhile the hotel’s plush screening room – with reclining seats – will host a programme of Christmas films (Frozen, Polar Express, Home Alone, The Holiday) from December 20 to January 1. And, of course, Santa will appear bearing cheer – and gifts for those on the ‘nice’ list – on the 23rd, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.