Inside Claridge's

Reception

The first episode drew 3.09 million viewers on BBC Two, capturing a 13% audience share. It ranked as the second most watched programme on BBC Two that week, behind MasterChef with 3.24 million viewers. The second episode attracted 4.25 million viewers and a 16.8% share, while the final episode reached 4.46 million viewers with an 18.5% share. Both the second and final episodes were the most watched on BBC Two for their respective weeks. The Independent described Inside Claridge's as "a soaraway ratings hit".

Critical response was largely positive. Gerard Gilbert of The Independent contrasted the series favourably with an earlier ITV documentary about the Savoy, noting that director Jane Treays was unafraid to ask blunt questions and capture telling moments. John Crace of The Guardian called it "an exquisite piece of documentary-making" and praised Treays's off-screen questioning style, which elicited delightful indiscretions from subjects. Alex Hardy of The Times likened the series to "a great recruitment ad", comparing the hotel staff's contentment to that of Tom Hanks's character in Big. Rachel Cooke of the New Statesman expressed surprise that the hotel allowed filming and found the series "a little stretched" due to insufficient characters across three episodes. BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow commended the series for not portraying people's foibles cruelly.

Following the series' conclusion, visits to the hotel's TripAdvisor page increased by 1769%. Inside Claridge's was shortlisted for the Grierson Awards' British Documentary Award in 2013 and nominated as best documentary series in the Broadcast Awards 2014. A DVD edition was released on 20 January 2014.