The Ritz beat the Blitz but surrenders to ‘pingdemic’

THE Ritz remained open during both world wars and survived the Blitz, but the 115-year-old hotel has fallen victim to the ‘pingdemic’. I can reveal that Britain’s most famous hotel was forced to close its Michelin-starred restaurant yesterday, just 24 hours after so-called ‘Freedom Day’, because staff had been ‘pinged’, or ordered to isolate, by the Government’s Test and Trace app.

And it will remain closed ‘until further notice’.

The restaurant, which is known for its ornate red-and-gold dining room, offers Beef Wellington for £98, or its speciality Crepes Suzette for £40.

One guest who had booked a special birthday lunch for yesterday was phoned on Monday to have her booking cancelled.

The hotel has offered its ‘sincerest apologies’ for shutting its restaurant due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and offered to extend all dining vouchers until the end of January 2022.

Top restaurateur Jeremy King, who co-owns The Wolseley down the road in Piccadilly, warns that the closure could be just the first of many that will cripple the restaurant business just as diners were beginning to return after lockdown.

‘I have immense sympathy for The Ritz,’ says King, who also runs Colbert and The Delaunay.

‘With the current test and trace system, it’s going to be a lottery as to which restaurants close over the coming weeks.’ He adds: ‘The system needs a rethink.’

The Ritz, where a suite can cost more than £2,000 a night, is said to be still offering 24-hour room service to guests.

A spokesman for the hotel, which held the Queen’s 80th birthday party and received a Royal Warrant for banqueting and catering services in 2002, could not be reached for comment. Perhaps they were ‘pinged’, too?