The Ritz SL ⭐️
April 2024 - The Ritz is temporarily shut for refurbishment
The Ritz Second Life was already one of our favourite SL Hotels even before it temporarily shut for a Summer renovation. It’s now back, and it’s bigger and better than before.
Aria and I had a chance to have a look during the soft opening, so that we could put together this review prior to the formal re-launch.
Reading this in early October? The Ritz has a 99L introductory special for a week, far below the usual prices.
Overall look and feel
All photos by Aria Christen, rights reserved
The Ritz SL is loosely modelled on a historical grand hotel that you will find in a lot of European capitals. Think the Ritz Paris, The Savoy London or the Hotel Eden in Rome.
Like those RL Hotels, the Ritz SL has a classical feel about it, and is ornate without being over the top. It also has, like its RL equivalents, modern touches.
Aria and I like places that feel and immersive and this definitely ticks both those boxes.
It’s also vast. Before it shut for the Summer, you could easily get lost here and that’s even more the case now as it appears to be bigger. Fortunately, there is a HUD on offer when you come and stay, to help you navigate around.
In terms of what’s different, the Hotel has mentioned, seems to be larger, especially regards the grounds. There is a new class of rooms, the ‘Grand Deluxe’ suites.
The restaurant and spa have been completely remodelled. Various features have been added like a stable and the ability to travel around the grounds in golf buggies and cargo bikes. And there’s now a completely new immersive experience called ‘The Caves De Clisson’ (more on that later).
Overall - 5 / 5
The Rooms
The rooms include Deluxe Suites at 500L a night, bird themed suites at 1000L, and the new Grand Deluxe Suites at 1500L.
We stayed in a Grand Deluxe Suite, which is actually the size of a large apartment. There’s a big open sitting area, a large dressing room / bathroom and a bedroom. The suite also has direct access to the grounds.
We wondered whether one of the Grand Deluxe suites could be slightly remodelled to house two couples, with one bedroom on either side of the living area, as people do go on SL double date vacations (we’ve done so).
Meanwhile the bird themed suites (Swan, Dove, Peacock) are in Skyboxes and have a private outdoor terrace and hot tub.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
The facilities
Hitchcocks Bar exists as before, and remains an excellent meeting spot. That’s now joined by Hitchcock’s Restaurant.
For now it’s self service, but owner Vlad Korobase told us that there are plans to hire staff and turn this into a full RP dinner venue before the end of the year. It’s a really elegant place, and when that happens, we will definitely be having a dinner date there.
The swimming pool has been repositioned, and the surrounding area looks much nicer and more premium.
The spa has been completely rebuilt and is now bigger. There’s an entrance by the main reception, with the spa having a long row of treatment areas and a changing room, before you get to a Roman style spa pool, which then leads out to the main hotel. The spa transformation is really impressive.
Also new is a “Le Chat Chanceux", a beautiful and intimate cafe and cat bookstore created by Vlad’s partner Minerva Morningstar. This cafe, along with Hitchcocks Bar, remains free for non guests to visit.
For all other areas you either need to stay, or buy a 12 hour guest pass at 250L.
As it did earlier in the year, the Ritz will carry on having a focus on live music events, with Luciano Lionheart being the artist in residence. General Manager Grace Blackwell will be putting together an extended music programme for the rest of the year.
The biggest addition to the Hotel however is ‘The Caves De Clisson.’ We don’t want to give too much away, as this is something you really need to discover yourselves.
However, what we will say is that this is a large underground cave experience, which is interactive, fun and also perfect for Halloween. It’s historically themed, here is the backstory:
“The story of the De Clissons is one of true love, political betrayal, & devastating revenge. In 1343, King Philip VI of France ordered the execution of Olivier de Clisson, on false information from Charles de Blois. Olivier's wife Jeanne sought revenge on the French nobility by becoming a successful and bloodthirsty pirate.”
There are already lots of reasons to stay at the Hotel, but the Caves are a definite highlight.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
Animations
Our suite had a Trompe Debauchery bed, which as well as having a variety of MF anims, is also same sex couple friendly. The couches were Chesterfield Adult Sofas and there was a Ruckus shower and Zaker bathtub.
The anims in the public areas seem quite standard and didn’t cause us any problems.
Overall - 4 / 5
Other considerations
As mentioned, only Hitchcocks Bar, the Beardsley Ballroom and the new "Le Chat Chanceux" are open to the public. Otherwise you need to be a guest or buy a day pass at 250L.
That’s a good thing, as it gives paying guests a certain level of exclusivity.
The hotel is adult, the rooms have plenty of anims. Privacy is also good as the rooms have security orbs.
I personally ran the ‘Barcelona’ windlight when I was there, and found that the Ritz looked even more beautiful on a dusk type setting.
Finally, we noticed that lag is much improved from before. We encountered none, and Aria was able to take pictures in Black Dragon without any problems.
Conclusion
We’ve been huge fans of the Ritz, having booked out the whole hotel for Aria’s birthday back in May. It was already a very special place, and one that’s definitely suited for coming to stay with your significant other. Now with the enhancements that Vlad has made, that’s even more the case.
Highly recommended.
For the first week of October, the Ritz will be offering rooms at a special price of 99L, compared to 500L+ usually
