The £800m hotel bill

Overseas bids to buy The Ritz value it at £6m per bedroom

It’s a byword for decadence and glamour – and the most famous hotel in the world.

Now a new chapter in the exotic history of the Ritz is about to open as it looks likely to fall into foreign hands in an £800million deal.

the five star London hotel – where rooms start at £445 a night – has been owned by the billionaire Barclay brothers, sir David and sir Frederick, since 1995.

But the twins, now 85, hoisted the forsale sign above the Piccadilly landmark last year. the Mail understands initial offers in the region of £800million are now being assessed. A source said: ‘the sales process is under way but we’re talking weeks not days. A foreign buyer is most likely.’

It sets the scene for a buyer to be found in the coming weeks – possibly before the end of February.

the price tag values the Grade II-listed hotel, which features a casino, opulent Palm Court tea room and suites that cost as much as £5,450 a night, at around £6million per room. the Barclay brothers, who own newspaper publisher telegraph Media Group, paid £75million for the hotel in 1995 but spent £40million restoring it to its former glory.

A number of foreign buyers have expressed interest, and it is thought the Ritz will end up being shifted out of British ownership. Although Chinese investors have proved to be keen buyers of trophy buildings in recent years, it is understood they will not end up taking on the Ritz.

Capital controls put in place by the Chinese government, which restrict how much citizens can spend on property overseas, have choked off hopes of major hotel purchases. Instead, potential buyers include sovereign wealth funds, the Qatari royal family and other rich Middle Eastern families.

the Ritz is one of the few bigname London hotels to still remain with British owners. the Dorchester is owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, an arm of the government of the tiny Asian nation and the Grosvenor House Hotel is backed by the Qatari Investment Authority. In 2015, the Qataris bought out the Barclay family’s controlling stake in Maybourne Hotel Group, the company behind Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught.

A spokesman for the Barclay brothers declined to comment.