The Ritz was opened on May 24th 1906, on the site of the Walsingham House Hotel, formerly the Bath Hotel. Conceived by renowned hotelier César Ritz, The Ritz owes its architectural design to an extremely successful partnership formed in 1900 between Frenchman Charles Mewès, and Englishman Arthur Davis. Together they had originally designed the Hotel Ritz in Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London’s Haymarket (now replaced by New Zealand House) and between 1904 and 1905 they designed The Ritz in London. César Ritz’s innovations for the hotel were, at that time quite unique with bathrooms for every bedroom, double glazing, a sophisticated ventilation system, walk-in wardrobes, and brass, rather than wooden beds. With its French chateau-style architecture and all its interior decorations and furnishings in the style of Louis XVI, the hotel was, according to César Ritz “a small house to which I am proud to see my name attached�.