HotelChatter

Tags: Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Furniture / Hotel Closings / London Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

The Savoy London Closes Its Doors For a Facelift

Where: Strand , London, United Kingdom, WC2R 0EU

Perhaps the most famous of all the hotels in London, the The Savoy, a Fairmont Hotel, closed its doors for 16 months on Saturday to undergo some major renovations.

Folks flocked to the hotel over the weekend to sip their last martinis at the bar and nibble on some cucumber sandwiches before the closing. For hotel furniture geeks, furniture from the Savoy is to be auctioned this week during a three-day sale that's expected to bring in anywhere from USD $1,215,000 to $2,020,150.

But despite the massive renovations, hotel manager Kiaran MacDonald has said that the renovation will be one that very much respects the hotel's rich history.

The hotel is a long-time favourite of the rich and famous. Claude Monet painted over seventy works of art whilst staying at the Savoy, many of which were considered his masterpieces. Marilyn Monroe, Sir Richard Harris, Winston Churchill, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and James Whistler are just some of the other luminaries to have stayed or resided in the hotel over the years.

And it seems not everything will go. The hotel is said to be keeping items that are intrinsic to the its history, to be restored and replaced when the hotel reopens in 2009.

[Photo: Evening Standard]

Related Stories:
· Hotels in London [HotelChatter]