Afternoon tea in London for a special occasion

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Short list is

The Ritz
Sketch
The Goring
Brown’s

Recommendations please?

The Ritz IME is a bit of a conveyor belt of people being rushed through. It is noisy and in non-covid times very squished. Claridges is very elegant. The pret-a-port tea at the Berkeley is lovely esp if you are fashion fans. Sketch is very Instagrammable and a great place for lunch/dinner but I’ve not had their afternoon tea. The Sanderson mad hatter tea is fab but I think the hotel is being refurbished right now.

The Berkeley, the Fashionistas tea is fun
The Wolsley, perennial classic
We had a lovely Xmas tea at The Dorchester but I wouldn’t recommend The Savoy

Claridges.

We went to sketch for breakfast recently a lovely place and a very (social media) photo friendly place.
I had my 40th birthday on a bus doing afternoon tea. We saw all the sights and it was fabulous. But we aren’t local so that probably helped.

Took my mum to Claridges for her 80th birthday and it was fabulous

I like the Lanesbrough afternoon tea even more than Claridges. Beautiful food and a gorgeous room.

I loved the Connaught

Went to Browns this week, we loved it. It felt personal and not overdone. You could have as much as you wanted of the tea (not the champagne, obvs, you need to go to the all you can eat buffet at the Bellagio for that!).

Food was lovely, service was attentive. They have a great tea menu too.

The Sanderson, the Dorchester.
The Sanderson is a bit quirky.
The Dorchester - we had to in the Spatisserie - downstairs next to the spa. Much quieter than upstairs in the main part.

ampersandhotel.com/eat-drink/the-drawing-rooms/science-afternoon-tea/

Claridges, every time.

The Lanesborough is just beautiful. That would always be my no. 1.

I went the the Waldorf once (on a very cheap Groupon deal) and had a surprisingly good afternoon tea; not as good as the Lanesborough but very good and a lot cheaper.

I've heard the Berkeley fashionista tea is lovely too.

Absolutely not the Ritz. Anywhere but there.

The Corinthia - such a beautiful hotel and the afternoon tea is superb.

Claridges - definitely a favourite, faultless service and exquisite afternoon tea.

The Savoy and The Ritz are a bit of a cliché and really not that good at all.

The Sanderson or Fortnum's

Has anyone had tea at the Cafe Royal?

Claridges is booked unfortunately.

Thinking of Brown’s.

Brown's is lovely and a bit more understated than some. However, I had a much better experience at The Berkley.

I really like the Wellesley. It's absolutely beautiful in there, piano, definitely underrated.

Maybe I should look at the Lanesborough

We had a brilliant time at Fortnum & Mason, the food & service were excellent. There were 6 of us and we all had afternoon tea. We've decided that next time half of us will have "high tea" and we'll all share, best of both worlds

Fortnum and Mason. Absolutely Brilliant

We had afternoon tea had Sketch a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't fault it. It was fun and everything was so delicious.

@Netaporter

The Ritz IME is a bit of a conveyor belt of people being rushed through. It is noisy and in non-covid times very squished. Claridges is very elegant. The pret-a-port tea at the Berkeley is lovely esp if you are fashion fans. Sketch is very Instagrammable and a great place for lunch/dinner but I’ve not had their afternoon tea. The Sanderson mad hatter tea is fab but I think the hotel is being refurbished right now.

Totally agree about the Ritz. It's a touristy conveyor belt. I wouldn't do it again.

Haven't been to the others so can't comment.

afternoonteaonline.co.uk/book/the-wellesley/

Another one to say Ritz is overrated!

We really enjoyed The Langham (Cherish Finden used to be Patissier there) and for privacy we love The Athaeneum - felt like we were in our own private booth.

Making a note to try the Lanesborough!

Went to Claridges for a family birthday celebration and couldn’t fault it - but shame it’s booked for your dates. Worth trying another time