Now, as The Savoy undergoes an extensive renovation, we will be able to edit our book about it and to publish it again, once the hotel opens its doors again.

In the summer of 1889 – the days of Gilbert and Sullivan, the heroes of English operetta – The Savoy opened its doors.
It was the creation of theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte. He engaged an aspiring young Swiss, the young César Ritz, to run the hotel who in turn brought in Auguste Escoffier – the ‘Emperor of all chefs’.

Enrico Caruso sang at The Savoy, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde and Dame Nellie Melba of Pêche Melba fame (created at The Savoy) – made it their London residence. Hollywood stars arrived. The American Bar became the watering hole of prohibition refugees. Every Prime Minister chose The Savoy as a refuge of privacy (Sir Winston Churchill founded ‘The Other Club’ at The Savoy, which still meets here). From Chaplin to Pavarotti, from James Bond to Harry Potter – this is the place to be seen, to party, or to hide.