The Ritz Hotel, London 300 people were evacuated to the nearby May Fair Hotel following a fire alarm in the hotel. No one was hurt in the blaze, which started in the basement casino kitchen's extraction vents. The Ritz casino only suffered "minor damage". Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was convalescing at the Ritz when she died following a stroke on 8 April 2013. There has been criticism because the Ritz has not paid any corporation tax since being taken over by the Barclay twins. The accounts indicate that the profitable hotel uses a series of tax reliefs to reduce its corporation tax
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company 2007, the partners also formed Solís Hotels. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is now headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, located in the Washington, D.C. MSA. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company partnered with Bulgari in 2001 to operate a chain of hotels owned by and operated under the BVLGARI brand. The company currently has marketing agreements with Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the privately owned Ritz-Carlton Montreal, The Ritz Hotel London and the Hotel Ritz, Madrid. In 2011, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong was opened. It is currently the highest hotel in the world. Simon Cooper joined Ritz-Carlton in 2001