This is as traditional as English afternoon tea goes. An experience worthwhile and definitely a place for people watching. Can definitely tell who are regulars here, the rich and regular folks like us. The service is impeccable; nothing was rushed at all. Too bad we were seated next to the piano; the music was lovely but was a bit difficult to listen to my party or chat away. We tried 4 teas total-surprised us too given that most places we been to would not let us change tea without a fee. This is a pleasant surprise and happy they offer it. The food is well prepared. We had to pack our leftovers and we requested for extra sandwiches as well. If you want more during your tea, they are gladly to bring more for you as well; as witnessed almost every other table ordered additional sandwiches and literary everyone packed something to go. Definitely worth the price we spent here. Great atmosphere and simple way to end our trip to London. Will definitely return.

Oh, a small complaint-on the website and most of everyone's reviews; dress code is smart casual. Saw some folks dressed in jeans and sneakers; definitely wasn't happy about that because I remembered asking and was told smart casual as well. So much for adhering to dress code. Not saying that people shouldn't dress for this place, but if you indicates that, then it should be enforce across the board.

My friend and I had an excellent time at Claridges on Friday. Very conveniently it’s just 5 minutes from Bond Street underground and we arrived at 4.30pm 30/8/19.

I have visited Claridges for afternoon tea once before many years ago but my friend was visiting for the first time.

From the moment we arrived outside the hotel the doormen made us feel welcome. They opened the doors for us whilst smiling, joking and wishing us a good evening.

We were a little early so I mentioned this as we booked in to be seated. This was the first minor ‘con’ as my friend felt we were not enthusiastically welcomed at this point (in fact she said he ‘looked down his nose’ at me). Have to be honest and say I really didn’t notice though and we sat on the comfy seats outside the restaurant whilst he located a table and seated us. We had nothing further to do with him anyway.

Our overall experience was excellent thanks to our waiter ‘Attilia from Hungary’. He was attentive, polite and did everything in his power to make our experience an exceptionally excellent one. He accommodated our requests for photos of him and spent a few minutes just having a pleasant chat. THANK YOU ATTILIA!!

My score is 4 out of 5 due to the lack of a warm welcome when we were first greeted at the restaurant and the ‘tired’ appearance of some aspects of this 5 star hotel such as the ‘ladies bathroom’.

That said ‘the staff’ are the biggest asset to Claridges as they are on the whole extremely friendly and they make your experience very special.

We will come again!

This was my 2nd afternoon tea at Claridge's and for me there is no place better. The setting is so special with live music, beautiful furnishing and fresh flowers. The food is of the highest quality from the scones and sandwiches to the pastries. The exclusive jam they serve is the best and had they not been sold out, I would have taken a jar home with me. The tea menu is extensive and there is an "antler" tea which must be tasted to be believed. The service is excellent and professional. It is extremely expensive, nearly $200 USD, for 2 people including service charge and no alcohol. If you are looking for the best tea experience in London, this is the spot. My party spent 3 hours enjoying the hospitality at Claridge's.

My wife, seven year old daughter and I had the pleasure of afternoon tea at Claridge’s.

We arrived slightly early for our booking but we were seated straight away and looked after exceedingly well by the attentive staff and management.

This was my daughters first visit to Claridge’s and they made her feel very special with a beautiful afternoon tea and menu which she has kept as a memento.

The sandwiches were very good indeed but the star of the show was definitely the scones and clotted cream - simply perfect as were the pastries. We had to ask for our remaining cakes to be boxed up for us which was attended to very quickly and we were wished well by all the staff when we left - I can’t recommend highly enough and will be returning for Christmas!

I make a point of going to a nice afternoon tea every time I'm in London, and for some reason I just discovered this year that Claridge's is widely considered the gold standard. I had thought the Ritz was king but in my research I learned that Claridge's is reviewed far better, so I had very very high expectations (that and because of the extremely high price). From the get-go I was underwhelmed, we were seated in the side room off the main foyer that's a bit darker and not quite as opulent. This room was "cozier" than the other room, but it was definitely far more understated and casual feeling and was way darker which toned everything down. I didn't love it. Service was a weird mix between good and not so good. It was less friendly than the service I've had at the Ritz in the past, which is surprising as the Ritz has a reputation for being stuffy. It took forever for our waiter to come over and get us started with everything, and he didn't explain things very well (the order of it, the option for refills, etc). At other teas I've been to they bring the tea first, or right along with the first tray of sandwiches. Here he just brought a plate of sandwiches and empty teapots and walked away without giving us the actual water for the tea and after we had finished our plate of sandwiches he brought the water. I wish he would have just explained that the tea comes after the sandwiches, or asked us if we wanted it before. If I had known it comes after I would have asked for it before as I like to drink it while I eat sandwiches as well. I do like that they only pour enough for one cup at a time, as that ensures the tea isn't getting too bitter while steeping, and they were very good at coming by and checking to give us refills the minute we needed them. I also like that they offer refills of the sandwiches and scones, and they'll even package them up for you to take home if you'd like. The scones and pastries were absolutely fantastic, however I was a bit underwhelmed by the sandwiches. I found the sandwiches at the Ritz and Dorchester to be far superior. Overall this was a nice enough tea, and if I hadn't been to other teas I probably would have been far happier with it, however I found the experience at the Ritz to be better, even if it is more touristy. I can't even put my finger on what exactly rubbed me the wrong way about Claridge's, I think part of it is that it's significantly more expensive than other teas and I just didn't find that the extra money was worth it. If we had been seated in the main pretty room and the sandwiches were better I probably would be giving this 5 stars. I also felt a bit of an attitude coming off the staff towards us, I'm not sure if I was just being paranoid because I felt underdressed, but we completely forgot to pack some fancier clothes for this and while I had a sundress on, my dad was in a t-shirt and khaki shorts. I know that teas are a bit fancier in London, but figured we'd be fine as they explicitly state they have no dress code online, as I looked this up upon realizing we had forgotten to pack fancy stuff. However I did feel a bit of an attitude at the check-in desk. Most people were indeed dressed up nice, but there were some others in t-shirts and even a duo in workout leggings. Anyway, I just didn't find this worth the price, I might give it another chance to see if I have a better experience next time. It was still a fantastic tea, it just didn't live up to the extremely high expectations I had for it and the rave reviews I had read.