Savoy Hotel
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- This article is about the Savoy Hotel in London. For other uses, see Savoy (disambiguation).
The Savoy Hotel is a five-star hotel found on the Strand, London, England.
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[edit] History
Opened in 1889, it was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte, the owner of the nearby Savoy Theatre. It was and remains one of London's most prestigious and opulent hotels, with 230 rooms. Its name derives from the Savoy Palace which once occupied the site. Its first manager was César Ritz, who later became the founder of The Ritz Hotel. The hotel was designed by T. E. Collcutt, who also designed the Wigmore Hall. The hotel was built on a plot of land next to the Savoy Theatre, originally purchased to build an electrical generator for the theatre which was the first public building in the world to be lit by electricity.
The Savoy has long been famous for its inventive chefs. Its kitchen saw the invention of Pêche Melba, created in honour of Dame Nellie Melba by the legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier. Melba toast 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.
One curiosity of the Savoy is the fact that its forecourt (Savoy Court) is the only street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right. 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. (See Hackney carriage)
Claude Monet and James Whistler both stayed at the hotel and painted views from their rooms of the River Thames. Bob Dylan stayed in the hotel in 1965, and filmed the video clip Subterranean Homesick Blues in an adjacent alley. Nobel prize winning economist Amartya Sen prefers the hotel when staying in London.
In 2005, the Savoy was purchased by the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts of Canada from Maybourne Hotel group, formerly known as The Savoy Group.
Savoy Pier is located near the river entrance to the hotel, but is not affiliated to the hotel. It is a stop on the Thames Clipper commuter service, connecting the Savoy with the City of London, Canary Wharf and Greenwich via a river boat service.
Potential guests should be aware that many of the rooms are ready for a major facelift, with extensive renovations planned in the near future. The quality of service at the hotel has also been questioned. In 1991 a guest at the Savoy Hotel received severe burns to her upper arm, back, waist and thigh. No first aid care was provided at the time.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1930 the Savoy Hotel published a cocktail book, 'The Savoy Cocktail Book' with the recipes compiled by Harry Craddock of the Savoy Hotel, London and 'decorations' by Gilbert Rumbold. The book was then subsequently republished several times; 1952, 1965, 1985, 1996 and most recently in 1999 with some new text and a number of new cocktails added by Peter Dorelli.
- In Married with Children Season 6, the Bundys stayed at the Savoy during their stay to England.
- In America's Next Top Model, the contestants stayed in Savoy Hotel while they were in England.
- Motorists on Savoy Street, which is used principally by cars transporting guests to and from the hotel, drive on the right side of the road, rather than the left.[1]
[edit] 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
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