 The hotel was opened by Swiss hotelier César Ritz in May 1906 , eight years after he established the Hôtel Ritz Paris . After a weak beginning , the hotel began to gain popularity towards the end of World War I , and became popular with politicians , socialites , writers and actors of the day in particular . David Lloyd George held a number of secret meetings at the Ritz during the latter half of the war , and it was at the Ritz that he made the decision to intervene on behalf of Greece against Turkey . Noël Coward was a notable diner at the Ritz in the 1920s and 1930s . 
