Ritzy: (slang) adj: stylish, elegant, ostentatiously rich.

You have to be pretty famous to have a word created just to describe the lifestyle you represent but that's what happened to The Ritz. To be fair the word was inspired not just by London's The Ritz but the hotels of Cesar Ritz worldwide. Nevertheless if you walk through the revolving doors of The Ritz London and you have time-warped into a world of elegant excess. Of all London's grand hotels this is the most opulent. There is no British reserve here, no stiff upper lip; The Ritz is a theatrical event. Modelled on a French chateau with furnishings in the style of Louis XVI, this is a flamboyant hotel. If it were a woman it would definitely like admiring itself in the glass: there are mirrors everywhere, and fountains and statues and a riot of 24-carat gold leaf. Surrender to the moment and book yourself a ride down Piccadilly in the bright Ritz-Blue Rolls Royce Phantom which glides to a halt underneath the hotel's matching blue canopy waiting just for you. Like the hotel, the car is a reminder of more elegant times with its polished mahogany, deep leather seats and windows that whisper shut to silence the city.

Of course London has so many famous names we must also pay court to The Savoy and Claridges to name but two.