- Savoy Hotel
Infobox hotel
hotel_name =
image_width = 250px
caption = Front elevation
location =London ,United Kingdom
coordinates =
opening_date =August 6 ,1889
stars = 5
diamonds =
closing_date =
developer =Richard D'Oyly Carte
architect =Thomas Edward Collcutt
operator =Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
owner =Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
number_of_restaurants =
number_of_rooms = 263
number_of_suites =
floor_area =
floors =
parking =
website = [http://www.fairmont.com/Savoy/ www.fairmont.com/Savoy]
footnotes =The Savoy Hotel is a five-star
hotel located on the Strand, in theCity of Westminster incentral London that opened onAugust 6 ,1889 . The hotel remains one of London's most prestigious and opulent hotels, with 263 rooms and panoramic views of theRiver Thames acrossSavoy Place and theVictoria Embankment , part of theThames Embankment . [ [http://www.fairmont.com/savoy The Savoy] , Fairmont.com.]From December 2007, the hotel will be closed for 18 months for extensive renovations. [ [http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL3045722420071030?pageNumber=2 Article on the Savoy renovation] .] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/dec/15/hotels Article on the closing of the hotel] , "
The Guardian ".]History
Opened in
1889 , it was built byRichard D'Oyly Carte , the owner of the adjacentSavoy Theatre , with architectThomas Edward Collcutt , who also designed theWigmore Hall . Its name derives from theSavoy Palace which once occupied the site. The hotel was built on a plot of land next to the Savoy Theatre, originally purchased to build anelectrical generator for the theatre which was the first public building in the world to be lit by electricity.The hotel's first famous manager was
César Ritz , who later became the founder ofThe Ritz Hotel . SirArthur Sullivan sat on the Board of Directors. The D'Oyly Carte family continued to operate the hotel through the lifetime of Richard's son,Rupert D'Oyly Carte , and was taken over by his daughter, DameBridget D'Oyly Carte .In 2005, the Savoy was purchased by
Al-Waleed bin Talal , to be managed byFairmont Hotels and Resorts of Canada fromMaybourne Hotel Group , formerly known as The Savoy Group.In May 2007, the new owners announced that the hotel in its entirety would close for around 16 months to undergo a refit to a design by Pierre Yves Rochon, Reardon Smith and
Buro Happold , the value of which will be in excess of $200m (£100m). The hotel closed in December 2007, with a projected reopening date some time in 2009. [ [http://www.abtn.co.uk/Savoy_to_close_for_refurbishments Savoy to close for refurbishments] .]Famous guests
Numerous famous guests have stayed at the hotel.
Claude Monet [Tucker, Paul Hayes, "Monet in the 90s: The Series Paintings, page 242.Museum of Fine Arts ,Boston , 1989. ISBN 0-300-04659-6.] and James Whistler both stayed at the hotel and painted views from their rooms of theRiver Thames .Oscar Wilde andLord Alfred Douglas both frequented the Savoy, which featured prominently in Wilde's subsequent trial for 'gross indecency '.Bob Dylan stayed in the hotel in1965 , and filmed the video clipSubterranean Homesick Blues in an adjacentalley . He was also allegedly confronted by hotel security guards over a wine glass being thrown out of the hotel room window, onto the street below.The Beatles ,U2 ,Led Zeppelin ,Sarah Bernhardt ,Enrico Caruso ,Lillie Langtry ,Charlie Chaplin ,Ivor Novello ,Frank Sinatra ,Laurence Olivier ,Vivien Leigh ,Judy Garland ,Elton John ,Elizabeth Taylor ,Richard Burton ,The Who ,Richard Harris ,Julie Andrews ,Shirley Bassey ,Jimi Hendrix , andMarilyn Monroe stayed here.Nobel prize winning economistAmartya Sen prefers the hotel when staying in London.An episode of the American television comedy
Married with Children was filmed at the Savoy.Restaurant
is also attributed to the hotel's kitchen; it is said that Dame Nellie ordered toast and was served with several pieces that were unusually thin and crisp and almost burnt, thus creating a new dish.
Elegant dining at the Savoy includes formal afternoon tea with choral performances at Christmas time including soloists. Soprano Donna Bruce gave a mesmerising performance of Madonna and Child in 2006 which was well received by everyone.
The Savoy has a Sunday brunch including free-flow champagne, and special events, such as
New Year's Eve dinner.Kaspar, a 3-foot high black alabaster cat sculpted by
Basil Ionides , is used as an extra guest when thirteen dine, to stave off bad luck. He is given a full place setting. [ [http://www.moodmapper.com/idx_result.asp?mood=204&place=152 Article about Kaspar the cat] .]avoy Court
Savoy Court is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right [ [http://www.driving.co.uk/4a2.html Why we drive on the Left in the UK] .] . This is said to date from the days when a
cab driver would reach his arm out of the driver's door window to open the passenger's door (which opened backwards and had the handle at the front), without having to get out of the cab himself [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1501,00.html Why does traffic entering and leaving the Savoy Hotel in London drive on the right?] , "The Guardian".] . (SeeHackney carriage )The Savoy cocktail book
In
1930 the Savoy Hotel published a cocktail book," 'The Savoy Cocktail Book' " with the recipes compiled byHarry Craddock of theAmerican Bar at the Savoy Hotel, London and 'decorations' by Gilbert Rumbold. The book was then subsequently republished several times; 1952, 1965, 1985, 1996 and most recently in1999 with some new text and a number of new cocktails added by Peter Dorelli. [ [http://realabsinthe.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-list-of-absinthe-cocktails_30.html 104 Details of 104 cocktails with absinthe] from The Savoy Cocktail Book.]avoy Pier
Savoy Pier is located near the river entrance to the hotel, but is not affiliated with the hotel. It is a stop on theThames Clipper commuter service, connecting the Savoy with theCity of London ,Canary Wharf andGreenwich via a river boat service.History of the site
The
House of Savoy was the ruling family ofSavoy , descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia (or "Maurienne"), who became count in 1032. The name Sabaudia evolved into "Savoy" (or "Savoie"). Count Peter (or "Piers" or "Piero") of Savoy (d. 1268) was the maternal uncle ofEleanor of Provence , queen-consort ofHenry III of England , and came with her to London. King Henry made PeterEarl of Richmond and, in 1246, gave him the land between The Strand and theThames where Peter built the Savoy Palace in 1263. On Peter's death, the Savoy was given toEdmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster , by his mother, Queen Eleanor. Edmund's great-granddaughter, Blanche, inherited the site. Her husband,John of Gaunt , 2nd Duke of Lancaster, built a magnificent palace that was burned down byWat Tyler 's followers in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. King Richard II was still a child, and his uncle John of Gaunt was the power behind the throne and so a main target of the rebels.In about 1505, Henry VII planned a great hospital for "pouer, nedie people", leaving money and instructions for it in his will. The hospital was built in the palace ruins and licensed in 1512. Drawings show that it was a magnificent building, with a dormitory, dining hall and three chapels. Henry VII's hospital lasted for two centuries but suffered from poor management. The sixteenth-century historian Stow noted that the hospital was being misused by "loiterers, vagabonds and strumpets". In 1702 the hospital was dissolved, and the hospital buildings were used for other purposes. Part of the old palace was used for a military prison in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the old hospital buildings were demolished and new buildings erected.Somerville, Robert. "The Savoy: Manor, Hospital, Chapel" (1960) London: Duchy of Lancaster.]
In 1864, a fire burned everything except the stone walls and the
Savoy Chapel , and the property sat empty until D'Oyly Carte bought it in 1880 to build the Savoy Theatre and later the Savoy Hotel there.Notes
References
* Dorelli, Peter/Craddock, Harry, "The Savoy Cocktail Book", 1999, ISBN 1-86205-296-4
* Jackson, Stanley, "The Savoy — The Romance of a Great Hotel", New York, 1964. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 63-8604
*MacKenzie, Compton. "The Savoy of London" (1953). London: George Harrap & Co.
* [http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=1690 "Famous Hotels in the World - London: The Savoy."]
* [http://www.savoy2009.com/press/pdf/8-Art-Deco-at-the-Savoy.pdf Art Deco at the Savoy - Describes many features of the hotel]ee also
*
Hotels in London External links
* [http://www.fairmont.com/Savoy/ The Savoy Hotel website]
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