Contributors to our books:

Raffles Hotel Singapore (first edition 1986, japanese edition 1987), Raffles Treasury (first edition 1987, 5th edition 1989).

Special thanks to Roberto and Helena Pregarz, Della Butcher, Derek and Joan Butler, Nick Curtis, Leopold de Coutere, Alain Fanchini, Raymond Flower, Russell Foreman, Han Keng Kong, Alaudin Ismail, Koh "Jason" Miah Wah and last but not least to Ilsa Sharp, the first official researcher and author of an acceptable history of Raffles Hotel.

  *****************

The Peninsula Hong Kong, first edition 1988, written at The Peninsula.
Special thanks to James Clavell and Russell Foreman, also to Urs Aeby, Felix M. Bieger, Eric Brand, Chan Pak, Chung "Johnny" Kam Hung, Peter Gasser, Peter Gautschi, Lynn Grebstad, Rolf Heiniger, Max Keller, Sunil "Sam" Kuruneru, James Leung, Ennio Di Marco, Andrew Musa, Karen Penlington, Ernest Ruckendorfer, Erich Schali, Vic Sephton, William Sung, Eric A. Waldburger and Heinz Waldvogel.

Cover painting: Geoffrey Baverstock

Design: Ramazotti Michelangelo
Producers: Harrison Dolittle / Andrew Chow

**************** 

Hotel Metropole, Hanoi in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World™ Father of the project is Richard Kaldor, general manager of the hotel between 1997 and 2000, who had the vision and enthusiasm to request a well researched history of his hotel. Greatest thanks to all board of directors of Thong Nhat-Metropole Hotel Joint Venture Company.
I am most indebted to Kai Speth, general manager in 2010, who initiated the latest edition; Franck Lafourcade, who led the hotel into this millennium as its general manager, who not only helped to update this book, but gave it a wonderful presentation during the year of the hotel’s centenary. Last but not least my personal thanks to Gilles Cretallaz, the current general manager, who supported our continued research into the rich history of this icon of Asian hospitality industry. We are indebted to HE Susan Boyd, former Ambassador of Australia to Vietnam, HE Serge Degallaix, former Ambassador of France to Vietnam, to Tore and Vigdis Sund, Michael Rastrup Smith, Sam and Rosetta Miller, Patrick Antona, Robert Farnsworth and Yasmine Bombardier. Credit must also go to Guy Poujoulat and his successors, Marc Bégassat and Charles-Henri Chevet who – as resident managers – accompanied this project. The deepest gratitude to the wonderful staff of the Metropole who makes each stay such a memorable one. Thanks to Sarah Grant who successfully set up the hotels PR office when so little was known about its past. The help of her successor Ms Nguyen Thanh Thuy and her assistant Nguyen Hai Au made work on this book so much easier. Further thanks go to Ricardo Perran, the first general manager of the hotel after its extensive renovations, and to his former assistant Edouard George for his collection of old photographs of the hotel and Hanoi. A word of special thanks goes to Dr Stein Tonnesson of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies who helped persuade Richard Kaldor that in fact the hotel’s story was within reach, and to Gerard Toupet, the general manager of the hotel Scribe in Paris for the story about the brothers Lumière. Luong Ngoc Khanh, former Front Office and Business Development Manager, supplied the most important assistance. It was good to talk to Frederick Rech, Richard Eliot, Le Hong Hai, Duong Trung Quoc of the Revolutionary Museum and Vu Quoc Khanh of ‘Viet Nam Pictorial’, Jeanne Loubet, Le Van Phuc, Do Thi Duong Minh, Mike Fogata, Madam Nguyen Thi Xuan Phuong, Maitre Duong Van Dam, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Tiana Silliphant and James Compton. Greetings to Australia, where Beris L Gwynne and Sarah Hodgkinson recalled their days at the Metropole – then Thong Nhat Hotel – during the early 1970s. Thanks also to Pierre Marbote and to Jeanne Réau in Paris. Special thanks to all the others, who were not named before and deserve a deep bow for their every kind attitude and help.

Photographs, drawings, maps and other illustrations: Bill Lorenz, Imperial War Museum and British National Library, London; Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna; Archives Nationales, Paris; Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence; Institute for information – Social & Science, Hanoi; National Library, Hanoi, Giovanni Di Giorgio. Collections Edouard George, Beris Gwynne, Peter Fleming and Sarah Hodgkinson, Archives of the Hotel Metropole. Historic hotel labels: Collection Joao Mimoso Production: Harrison Dolittle Editor: Andrew Williamson and Thomas Cane The 2007 edition was edited by Thomas Cane; Copy editor: Carola Augustin

***************************

Hotel Imperial Vienna in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World™ The author and the organisation The Most Famous Hotels in the World™, would like to especially thank Erhard Noreisch, General Manager of the Imperial Hotels Austria AG and Senior Vice President of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Central Europe. It must be noted with greatest respect that the management of the hotel decided to accept historical facts rather than old legends and traditionally distributed myth. We thank Thomas Schön, General Manager of the hotel, for his support. Petra Engl-Wurzer, in charge of Public Relations of the group, is coaching this ongoing project with all its updated editions with much professional care and personal enthusiasm. We also thank Michael Hatzfeld, the former manager, Andreas Bienenstein, Heidar Fityani, Harald Hitner, Sylvester Huber, ­Andrea Konert and Philip S. Rosenstingl. We treasure the memories of the late Franz-Josef Macho. Josef Prosek, the Financial Director of the group, gave us commercial, the chefs ­Stefan Hierzer and Siefried Kröpfl culinary lessons. Concierge Michael Moser deserves our gratitude for never getting tired answering all sorts of questions and being such a valuable companion in preserving the history of this unique hotel. Assistants historic research: Andrew Williamson (London), Marcello de la Speranza (Vienna) Photographs: Bill Lorenz, Archives of the Hotel Imperial (Jaime Ardiles-Arce, David Peters, Fotozentrum K. Reiberger, Atelier Doris Kucera, pictures born - H. Nessler, Thomas Vockenhuber Photography Vienna, Matthias Hamel u.a.) Archives of the Austrian National Library, Archives Dr. M. La Speranza, Vienna Famous Hotels Main Archives, Musikverein – Peter Schramek and the private collection of Hedi Graf. The private collection of Professor Adolf Frohner and his family – descendants of the great Imperial hotelier Johann Frohner – were of greatest value. Production: Carola E. Augustin, Daniel Szelényi­ Editor: Thomas Cane

***********************

Hotel Bristol, Vienna as part of the series THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD The author and the organisation THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD would like to give special thanks to Erhard Noreisch, managing director of Imperial Hotels Austria AG, for making this comprehensive historical project possible. We would also like to thank Petra Engl-Wurzer and Caroline Müller for all their efforts. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to the former managers of the house, Raimund Jeschek-Fritsch, Andreas Vögl, Georg W. Engelhardt and Otto Scheiner and to its general manager Thomas Schön. Thanks to Andeas Bienenstein, Pamela Engelmann, Evelyne Seyfried, Regina Klaus, Barbara Bischof, Heiko Brunner, Reinhard Gerer, Konrad Gutlederer, Dieter Hölzl, Johann Krätschmer, Dieter Ludewig, Lisa Nassler, Gerhard Palm, Franz Ramusch, Gabriela Reithofer, Rupert Schnait and all the other friendly people who we met at the Bristol. Special thanks to Prince Ulrich Kinsky. Development of the historical database: Mag. Carola E. Augustin. Assistant in historical research: Dr. Marcello de la Speranza. Special thanks to our George Gershwin specialist, Richard Lewis, to Haik Zarian and Dr. Helmut Lederer.

Photography: Bill Lorenz (people), Jaime Ardiles-Arce (interior). Further photographic material: Archives of the Hotel Bristol; Archives of the Austrian National Library (portrait collection, picture library and Fideikommissbibliothek); Archives of M. de la Speranza, Vienna; Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna; Imperial War Museum, London; The British Library; Archives d’Outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence, Franz-Ulrich Prince Kinsky, Gustav Kollar, Hans Brunner. Editor edition 2005: Thomas Cane. *********************

Hotel Goldener Hirsch Salzburg in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World The author and the organisation THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD, LONDON would like to thank the general manager of the Imperial Hotels Austria AG, Erhard Noreisch, who made this comprehensive history project possible (Hotel Imperial Vienna, Hotel Bristol Vienna, and this book). We truly appreciated the constant support of Petra Engl-Wurzer, director of public relations of the group. The author would like to thank Herbert Pöcklhofer, the general manager of the Hotel Goldener Hirsch, for his support. Johannes von Walderdorff, who managed the hotel until 2002, was a most inspiring source of information, stories and historical details. His mother, the late Harriet Walderdorff, shared many memories with the author. The author also wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Robert Hoffmann, Prof. Dr. Guido Müller, Dkfm. Professor Hans Jaklitsch, Frau Prof. Dr. Gisela Prossnitz, Dr. Lore Telsnig und Monika Maier (Carolino Augusteum), Rudolph Klehr, Professor Rudolf Angermüller (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) and Karl Gruber. Many thanks to Lola Lechner, the daughter of the owners of the Goldener Hirsch during World War II. Thanks also to Hans Langwallner for his invaluable help. Chef de cuisine Gernot Hicka, the front office team around Erwin Pitzer, Johann „Hansi“ Oberholzer, Thomas Klingsbigl, Renate Stauffer and Elke Pflug, Hubert Kugler, Karl Lettner and Herman Bauer – many thanks to them, too.

Photographs: Bill Lorenz, Jaime Ardiles-Arce, Harry Zeilinger, Siegfried Lauterwasser, Archives Hotel Goldener Hirsch, Archiv der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Archiv Dr. M. La Speranza, Wien, Famous Hotels Main Archives, Carolino Augusteum, Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, Erzbischöfliches Palais. Production: Harrison Dolittle

Design: Ramazotti Michelangelo

*******************************

The Grand Hotel Europe St Petersburg in the series The Most Famous Hotels In The World 2007 edition: we thank General Manager Thomas Noll and PR-manageress Irina Khlopova for their cooperation. This book was compiled and written at the Grand Hotel Europe in St Petersburg, in London and in Vienna in 1996 and edited and revised in 2002 and in 2007. Very special thanks go to general manager Peter Knoll, but also to Stephan Kaminski, general manager of the Grand Hotel Europe in 1996, who made this book possible, and to Brigitte T Gruber, who suggested it in the first place. Thanks in loose order to: Elmar Greif, Peter Knoll, Snezhana Zamalieva, Yana Lakizina, Ulrich Wilhelm, Marina Alexandrova, Tiffany Madden, Natalia Minina, Tim Ettelt, Detlef Krenzin, Paul Murphy, Anthony Gear, Albrecht Schäfer, Eugene Iakovlev, Ralph Katthöfer, Martina Bruehl and Sabine van Ommen. We thank Larissa Gavrova and Igor Bogdanov for their valuable help during the research in St Petersburg. We are also especially grateful to Wladimir B Geracemov, who shared with us some good old Grand Hotel stories and to Kaapralova Lidea Fedorovna at the Saltikov-Shedrin Russian National Library. We are very grateful to Viktoria Struzman, the architect of the renovations of the hotel who explained her work to us. Last but not least many thanks to all the others who have contributed so generously to this book.

Photographs: Archives of the Grand Hotel Europe, Historical Archives of the Humanist Centre, the Saltikov-Shedrin Russian National Library, all St Petersburg; Sabine van Ommen Public Relations, Berlin; and the Main Archives of The Most Famous Hotels.

Cover painting: Evgeniy Rusinov; Vignette, page 3: Andrey Tron Research: Carola E. Augustin, Andrew Williamson Editor: Francesca Brizi and Thomas Cane

*****************

Grand Hotel Florence in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World™ We would like to thank Dr Antonello de’ Medici, general manager, and Judith Otto, director of sales and marketing of the Grand Hotel and the Hotel Excelsior in Florence, who were the driving forces behind this history project. Special thanks go to Francesca Govoni, who – in charge of public relations – assisted so valuably during the entire project. It must be noted with greatest respect that the management of the hotel decided to accept historical facts rather than old legends and traditionally distributed myths. We are in particular indebted to all former and current members of the staff, who contributed so generously to this book. We also like to thank Robert Koren, Giuliano Corsi, Marco Milocco, Monique Kraft, Gerardo Kraft and all the others who are not mentioned here by name. Photographs: Archives of the hotel, Jaime Ardiles-Arce, Matteo Sandi, Andrea Ruggeri, Marco Ravasini, Pollazzi Foto, the private collections of Ellen Puccinelli Sannini and Andreas Schoellkopf, Famous Hotels Archives and the Antonio Deperte Collection. Research assistance: Dr Sofia Reich, Cherry Chappell, Marina Bassino, Copy editor: Carola Augustin

*******************

Grand Hotel Royal Budapest as part of the series THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD (With the help of Hungarian writer Noémi Saly, who provided a deeper insight into the soul and artistic history of the city and the Royal, the elaborate puzzle of Budapest’s premier hotel was finally completed.) Of course we all thank Alfred Pisani, the founder of the Corinthia Hotel Group, who recognised the enormous value of the ‘sleeping beauty’ Grand Hotel Royal and decided to do the right things to reopen it as the greatest historic hotel of Budapest. Special thanks to Cornelia Kausch, who, during her days as general manager, felt that this history research project would further enhance the hotel’s great past. We appreciate the similar enthusiasm of Adrian Ellis, her successor, to support this project. Brigitte Gruber, first director of sales and marketing, suggested the involvement of The Most Famous Hotels in the World® in the first place. Tamás Fazekas, her successor, supported it with his ideas. We must not forget Daniel Szelényi, who was among the first to research the hotel’s rich history. Personal thanks to executive assistant manager Zoltán Géher and to Diána Dóczi, in charge of PR and marketing. Thanks in loose order also to: Gábor Flesch, Philippe Derrien, Károly Németh, Frank Xerri de Caro, Baron Joseph De B. Dobronyi, József Rácz, Zoltán Csetnegi, Réka Dömötör, Szabolcs Timku, and last but not least Sándor Farkas. Historical Research Assistants: Anikó Farkas and Noémi Saly Photography: Archives of the hotel, Joplin Sinclair, Daniel Cilia and others. Further photographic material comes mostly from private collections. We do thank Noémi Saly, Tamás Ungár, Zoltán Géher, Paul Lauer, András Gunst, György Kalmár, Tibor Meskál, Pál Antal and the collection of the Hotel Association of Hungary and its general secretary Gábor Lombosi, the Hungarian Museum of Commerce and Catering and Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna; Editors: Carola Augustin and Thomas Cane.

*******************

GRAND HOTEL VIENNA First edition: 1994 Special thanks to: José de Gross and Michael Andreewitch Also to: Silvia Kahler, Walter Scheel, Otto Scheiner, Richard Thonet, Gerhard Eberstaller and Carola E Augustin Historical Research: Vienna: Susanne Hauser, Erich Korger London: Andrew Williamson Washington: Sam Mandelbaum Cover painting and ink drawing: Peter Baldinger Pictures and illustrations: Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna Austrian National Archives, Vienna Wiener Stadtarchiv, Vienna Library of Congress, Washington Collection Otto Scheiner Kurt Essmann Postcard Collection, Vienna IRDIT Institute for Research of International Tourism Archivio privato dell´opera di Thomas Augustin, San Firmiano Map of Europe: S.I.G.H. Washington Music by Waldteufel, Ketelbey, Saint-Saëns, Rimsky-Korsakow (performed by Junge Philharmonie Köln, Volker Hartung), Glass, Reich, Strauß, Brahms, Schubert, Schuhmann, Mascagni and Mendelssohn -Bartholdy (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan) Editor: Brian Shields Design: Ramazotti Michelangelo Photoshop: Clemens Malek DTP coordination: Helmut Pils Producers: Harrison Dolittle / Ernst Gugler

****************

Hotel Kämp Helsinki in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World™ Thanks go to Timo Tirri, the general manager, who accompanied this project over the past years as director of sales. We would also like to thank Jan K. Nielsen, the former general manager, who was the driving force behind this history project. We are in particular indebted to all former and current members of the staff, who contributed so generously to this book, especially Gunnar Ormalm. We also like to thank Hannamari Mäkelä and Sanna Suomalainen for their splendid coordination work, Päivi Holmberg, today’s rooms division manager, who was the new Kämp’s public relations manager, Jukka Saikkonen, who introduced the hotel technically, Tiina Peltonen, who keeps its laundry clean, Timo-Pekka Karejärvi from the Brasserie, former executive chef Atte Vannasmaa, Charlotta Beaulieu (human resources department), Inka-Kristiina Hanhivaara of sales, Inka Uusitalo-Raoult, the reservations manager, Jyri Wennerkoski (quality management) and all the others who are not mentioned here by name. Photographs: Archives of the Hotel, Famous Hotels Main Archives Translations: Laura Kolbe, Piia Matikkala Production: Harrison Dolittle Editors: Daniel Szelényi, Roddy Martine and Carola Augustin *********************

Meet You At Paddington We thank Florian Augustin for resaerching London’s history during the blitz in World War II Editor: Francesca Brizi Design: Ramazotti Michelangelo

*********************

Cala di Volpe - Sardinia We thank Marco Milocco and Bart Spoorenberg for their initiative. Luciana Gullino for being there. Robert Koren for his blessing. Andrea Nissardi for his photographs and stories, Paolo Constanzi for keeping the archives of Nello di Salvo alive. *********************

The Caledonian Edinburgh in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World™ We would like to especially thank Dagmar Mühle, general manager of the Caledonian Hilton Edinburgh. She was the driving force behind this ‘centennial project’. It must be noted with greatest respect that the management of the hotel decided to accept historical facts rather than old legends and traditionally distributed myth. We are in particular indebted to all former and current members of the staff, who contributed so generously to this book. We would also like to thank Fiona Blair, Sarah Callaghan, Brydon Cunningham, John Dillon, Jorge Figuerola, Billy Garioch, Terry Gaughan, Selim Gecit, John Gibson, Gaynor Gillespie, Ann Graham, Ian Haggart, Marion Harvey, Jack Herkes, Margaret Jardine, Henry Klar, Ian Kruger, Moira Leggate, Jim Lindsay, David Lumsden, the Rt Hon Eric Milligan, David Nicol, Michael and Caroline Pearson, Andrew Penker, Mary Redden, Jimmy Reilly, Ena Robb, Stewart Scoular, Adrian Shaw, Andrew Smith, Helen Smith, A J Stewart, Eric Thorburn, Heather Warner, Rick Wilson and all the others who are not mentioned here by name. Photographs: Archives of the Hotel, Famous Hotels Main Archives, Roddy Martine Collection, National Galleries of Scotland, The City Art Centre and the Hilton Creative Library. DTP Assistance: HC Artwoman Production: Harrison Dolittle Editor: Francesca Brizi

**********************

The Imperial New Delhi as part of the series THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD The author and the organisation THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD would like to give special thanks to Jasdev Singh Akoi for keeping The Imperial legend alive and for adding the exemplary museum concept, and to his son Gobind Akoi for giving it the spin of the 21st century. We would also like to thank Pierre Jochem, vice president and general manager and his ‘right hand’, Martin Kleinmann. Our deepest gratitude to the department of public relations for its valuable assistance, thanks to L. Aruna Dhir; and last but not least to Rishi Kapoor for his strategic planning. Also thanks to (in loose order) B.K. Joshi, Prashant Yadav, Ravinder Singh, Bruno Cerdan, Veena Arora, Munish Kumar, Subash Goyal, Dorene Liedel, Birgit Løitegaard, Inder Sharma, Jill Gocher, Rosemary Hedges, Peter Gautschi and Stephen Vincent Fernandez. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to O.S. Chowdhary, The Imperial’s manager of art & antiquity, who so competently devoted himself to this project. Radhika Singh must be mentioned for bringing the history of the hotel’s 1960s in old photographs to life. Vikram Madhok and Reshmi R. Dasgupta for their memories. Assistant in historical research: Thomas Cane Photography: Deepak Budhiraja, Frank Meltzer, Jacob Termansen, Titouan Lamazou, Joplin Sinclair. Further photographic material: Rajat Dilwali / Kinsey Brothers New Delhi, O.S. Chowdhary / The Imperial Art Collection, Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna; Imperial War Museum, London; The British Library; Archives d’Outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence; Diplomatic Archives Quai d’Orsay, Paris. Editor: Carola Augustin and Thomas Cane.

*********************

The Mena House Treasury the Reader’s digest’ of MENA HOUSE in the series THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD® Photographs and sources: The Most Famous Hotels archives, American University Beirut, Claude Stemmelin, the private collections of Eloui Farid and Mahmoud Abdel Kader, the Rodakowski estate, Nina Nelson, Tom Shipley, Xandra Hurlingham, Mohamed Khattab, Francis Amin, L’Orientale; Lehnert&Landrock; The Egyptian Gazette Archives; Al-Ahram. Special thanks to Sanjiv Malhotra and Rajiv Kaul for making this project possible, Nabil Sobhy, Ann Moukhtar Kortam, Veneeta Rikhy, Kamal Zayton, Atef Goubran, Nagla Sakr, Noha Ihab and last but not least to Ashraf Gabry. Tarek Lotfy deserves mentioning for keeping track of historical archives, Carola and Florian Augustin for days of researching in dusty archives in Cairo.

**********************

The Oriental, Bangkok in the series The Most Famous Hotels in the World (co-author: Andrew Williamson) Very special thanks go to Kurt Wachtveitl, general manager of the Oriental, who made this book possible. Our deepest gratitude is extended to Penny Wachtveitl, Mark S Bradford, Melvin J J Robson, Norbert A Kostner, Dr Parichart J Suksongkroh, Jonas A Schuermann, Noppawan Phahulrat, Rabieb Boonkunch, Virochana Mochachandra, Supatana Atorn-Phtai, Jørgen Kamstrup, Susanne Worsfold, Phenkhae Chattanont, Anne Arunie, Chaturong Siewsutha and Carola E Augustin. We treasure great memories of the late Mimi Berlingieri who shared her favourite anecdotes with us. We thank Chancham Bunnag for her valuable research and information. We are also especially grateful to Pornsri Luphaiboon who set new standards in the field of public relations and to Ankana Kalantananda who helped so much with all her golden memories. We are very grateful to HSH Professor Prince Subhadradis Diskul for his kind advice concerning the history of the Kingdom and we also thank Gavin Young for his input. Last but not least many thanks to Somsri (Susie) Hansirisawasdi, Director of Public Relations, who helped so much to update the current edition and all the others who have contributed so generously to this book and who are not mentioned by name. Assistant of the first edition: Yasmin Nissen Historic Research and Co-Author: Andrew Williamson Research assistant: Herta Tschurlovits; Scripts: Julie Zhou; Producer: Harrison Dolittle ***********************

The Savoy in the series The Most Famous Hotels In The World Very special thanks go to Michael Shepherd, general manager of The Savoy, who believed so much in this project and who made this book possible. Thanks to John Kukral, managing director of the Blackstone Group International Limited. Deepest gratitude for their help and kindness go to the wonderful staff at The Savoy, who made every stay over the past decades such a memorable one. We particularly appreciated contributions made by the ‘old guard’ of The Savoy, among them Ramón Pajares, Duncan Palmer, Willy Bauer, Herbert Striessnig, Dodie Cotter, Rudolf Schreiner, Julian Payne and Derek Picot. A special thank you to Geraldine McKenna, the Director of Marketing and Sales of The Savoy Group, to Nicola Gold and to the PR department with Pam Carter. Thanks to the Savoy Gastronomes (Virginia Masser) and the Savoy Society (Andrew Phillips). We thank Philipe Krenzer, the Manager of The Savoy as well as all department heads of the hotel for pulling the right strings at the right time: at the River Restaurant, Peter Romerio and Philip Osenton; at the Grill, Angelo Maresca and Franco Becci; at the front desk Paul Pugh, and his colleagues. It was a delight to meet maître chef Anton Edelmann and witness him in action. We enjoyed relaxing hours in the presence of Peter Dorelli and Salim Khoury. A debt of gratitude is owed to Elizabeth Wesson for her important editorial advice, to Abel Zahran for deep insights into ‘rev-par’, to Sarah Trueman for her VIP updates and Susan Scott, the archivist of The Savoy for inspiring conversation and editorial input. Thanks to Clive Taylor for the IT know-how, Rory F. Purcell, the group’s chief engineer and his assistant Phil Hillman, who took us to the giddy heights of new roof and room constructions. Thank you to Olivier Thomas, the Director of Food and Beverage and Lionel Benjamin, the Banqueting Manager and his predecessor Andrew Coy for facts, figures and good stories, Anne Atkinson and Natali Juste, the lovely twins Caroline-Jane and Anne-Marie Houston and Stephen Blackburne. Ian Smith from security for opening the doors of the hotel archives at odd hours. Thanks to all the others who have contributed so generously to this book and last but not least to Sherry Noman. Thanks to Mike Leigh for the many inspiring moments in his wonderful Oscar-winning film Topsy Turvy. In this connection, thanks to Nik Head of The Savoy Theatre and The D’Oyly Carte Company. To Cherry Chappell, special thanks to a special friend. Recommended music: Gilbert & Sullivan, Ian Gomes, Salena Jones, The Rolling Stones (the early, The Savoy years), Ruth Allen and Bazz Norton from The Savoy.

Photographs: The Savoy Press Office, Rupert Tenison (© The Most Famous Hotels in the World), Joplin Sinclair Archive material: The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company; Archives of The Savoy; The Guildhall Library; London, Historical Archives of The Most Famous Hotels and the Classic Movie Picture Archives. Production: Harrison Dolittle English-language editing by Francesca Brizi ********************

The Strand, Yangon in the series The Most Famous Hotels In The World Very special thanks go to Sally Baughen, who had the idea for this book in the first place, and Sukhdeep Singh, Managing Director of Myanmar Hotels International, who helped to get this project rolling. We are grateful for so many personal stories and memories and wish to thank Monica Mia Maung, David Wordsworth, Kenneth Gaw, U Win Maung, Kyaw Soe Moe, Jordan Theodoros Baseah Petros Martyrosian (Basil P. Martin) Apollo Jolly, U Kyaw Shein,, U Myat Tha, U Than Lwin (Robin), Bernard Pe-Win, Drs. Frans H.P.M. Jansen, John Reed, Tony Wheeler, Hubert Schwetz and Ilsa Sharp. Special thanks for his personal memories and engagement in the preservation of The Strand to Adrian Zecha.

Photographs: Archives: Imperial War Museum, National Library, both London; Library of Congress Washington; The Austrian National Library Map Collection; Archives of Famous Hotels Contemporary: Joplin Sinclair, Tim Hall, Pierre Poretti Labels and related research: Joao Mimoso Production: Harrison Dolittle Editing by Francesca Brizi

*********************

 

Outside contributors:

Ole Hall, Peter Wirth, Bradford Zack, Daniel Mann, George Kalman, Peter Gautschi, Willi Kollmann, William Tadros