The guest book at Claridge’s reads like a Who’s Who of nobility and politics: Here is where Queen Victoria met Empress Eugénie in 1860. Here is where Churchill declared a suite to be Yugoslavian territory during World War II in order to support King Peter of Yugoslavia in exile. Here the Queen has been received for numerous banquets. Each of the 203 rooms draws a line between history and the present—the new 970-square-foot Linley Suites are the best art deco revival that London has to offer.
