Share your memories of the Ritz, the fabled hotel asked as it opened its doors Sunday to the public to show off the crème de la crème of party pickings.

There were fab floral arrangements, table settings fit for a prince, macarons, bijoux – from the charming Charlotte Hosten –  whiskies and wines … and a hint of the new 5,500 square foot spa to come, run by Carol St-James and son Jordan of Crescent St.’s Spa St. James. Oh, and a tour of the Royal Suite, whose bathrooms are to die for. The dining room with tapestry and chandelier is not too shabby, either.

Table settings at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Jordan and Carol St-James will run the new spa at the Ritz.

Charlotte Hosten with a choker that she won’t sell.

Hosten still had the marvellous bib choker on yellow shantung silk that impressed me back in 2009.

Meanwhile, my memories of the Ritz don’t go back that far – we were more of a Ruby Foo’s kind of family. But back in the day, there were lunches in the garden, then a Victorian wonder world with its lacy white furniture and the ducks, of course. Now, it’s more refined, not so feminine but the ducks remain in residence for the summer in a Zen-like setting.

I recall one lunch with a luxury retailer in a sweltering June heat wave, with my makeup – not that I wore any –melting off my face, and my carefully chosen outfit crumpling.

And then there are the Grand Prix parties, with their fizz, follies and the buzz when celebs like Sugar Sammy and P.K. Subban show up.

Anyhow, Ritz or Ruby Foo’s, I’m there. This Thursday, for instance, I’m off to Ruby Foo’s for the annual meeting of the Canadian Apparel Federation.

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