I recently visited The Ritz with my Mum for my 30th birthday as this has been on my bucket list for years and wow, what an experience!
I use an electric chair and was concerned when I read about the steps to get in the building and up to the Palm Court. I had also noticed whilst watching a Youtube review that the tables had vertical wooden bars underneath. These would stop me from sitting comfortably whilst enjoying my tea but after mentioning it at the time of booking, I was assured they would find a solution for me.
On arrival, the doorman guided us round to the side of the building where I saw a couple of large steps and hoped the ramps weren’t short as it would be very steep. Two long ramps were then placed over the steps and I was in! The foyer was absolutely stunning, there were thick drapes at the entrances to the powder room and cloakroom with many mirrors and chandeliers in this small area. Mum and I then noticed a further three steps up to the Palm Court itself but again, the staff had no worries and assisted me by standing behind – although the steepness did leave my Mum worrying how I’d get back down!
We were shown to our table (they had swapped us to a table without the wooden bars!) and offered a celebratory glass of champagne, although we turned it down as not big alcohol drinkers. Giando (fantastic Palm Court Manager) then brought over a bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly tea and offered us a glass of that instead which was very refreshing!
Not long after ordering a pot of earl grey, the Afternoon Tea followed. The waiter explained in detail the different sandwich fillings (there is a picture of the menu further down!) and cake flavours with the option of having more if you wanted. Before finishing the first plate of sandwiches, a second was brought over, it’s crazy how full you feel after eating only finger sandwiches…!
The scones came out warm and looking tasty, two were plain and two were fruit (not fans of fruit but we were just going to eat then with plenty of cream and jam on), Giando came over to see how were getting on with our tea where Mum mentioned not being a fan of the fruit ones, so he went and came back with four more plain ones! We couldn’t manage a third scone but knew we could take anything we didn’t eat away when we left.
The cake trolley came out after around 45 mins, I asked for a slice of each to try which were both a decent size and tasty, I enjoyed trying them! The person playing the piano then started ‘happy birthday’ and a few birthday cakes were taken to guests at their tables but to my surprise, Giando bought me over a birthday cake too – this was SUCH an amazing surprise and I was truly grateful!! Not long after the excitement, we settled the bill and I made my way towards the ramp, which looked steeper at the top than below it. Giando was there to help me down both inside and outside ramps and insisted I went backwards as it was safer.
During our Afternoon Tea, we did have plenty of waiters checking on us, topping up our tea or replenishing food, a truly lovely feeling of being taken care of. The piano sounded lovely, and I enjoyed figuring out what the songs were – bit of harry potter in there too! There was nothing they could have done differently during our experience there, the wheelchair wasn’t an issue at all and the waiter’s assisted with whatever was needed at the time. It is fully wheelchair accessible too (although somebody was in the accessible toilet so couldn’t check it out) but I do hope my pictures and experience have put some minds at ease to hopefully go to The Ritz for yourself!
Till next time!
Tash ❤
Tash's Accessible Travels 