The Ritz, bought by Mohamed Al Fayed in 1979 and refurbished in rich belle époque style, has a reputation for discretion. At the very beginning of their romance, Diana and Dodi stayed in the Imperial Suite. Le Patron, as the mercurial Mohamed Al Fayed is known affectionately by staff, picked up the bill.
Because of its status as a symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is featured in many notable works of fiction, including novels (F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night and Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises), a play (Noël Coward's play Semi-Monde), and films (Billy Wilder's 1957 comedy Love in the Afternoon and ...
Among its celebrity clientele, The Ritz has counted icons as diverse as Charlie Chaplin, designer Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn and Madonna. It was, of course, the Paris Ritz—headquarters and playhouse to Coco Chanel, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, and Ingrid Bergman, among others.
Today, The Ritz is considered to be one of the most expensive and luxurious places to stay in Paris. And we cannot argue that it is, indeed, overflowing with French opulence and glory. The hotel rooms are all equipped with flat-screen TVs, a private bathroom with luxury toiletries, and minibars.
The Ritz-Carlton's typical target market includes: business executives, corporate, leisure travelers, typically middle-aged persons and elders, and families from the upper and upper-middle class section of society.
Mohamed al-Fayed, (born January 27, 1929, Alexandria, Egypt—died August 30, 2023), Egyptian businessman who acquired a number of prestigious holdings throughout his career, including the Ritz Hotel in Paris and Harrods department store in London.