About the hotel
Built by theatre impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the Savoy opened in 1889 as Britain's first luxury hotel — electric lights, lifts, and bathrooms in numbers no London rival could match. César Ritz was its first manager and Auguste Escoffier its first chef; between them they wrote the playbook that the Ritz in Paris would later perfect.
Its position is unique: the only London hotel entrance where cars drive on the right, a private cul-de-sac off the Strand, with the river and Covent Garden on either side.
Suites & dining
River-view suites facing the Thames are the classic booking — Claude Monet painted Waterloo Bridge repeatedly from this vantage. The American Bar, in continuous operation since the 1890s, is the spiritual home of the British cocktail; the Savoy Grill (now under Gordon Ramsay's group) has fed prime ministers and matinée idols for a century.
The celebrity connection
Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, and The Beatles all held court here; Bob Dylan filmed the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" cue-card clip in an alley beside the hotel. Monet and Whistler painted from its river rooms. Kaspar, the hotel's wooden black cat, still joins tables of 13 as the fourteenth guest — the Savoy's oldest piece of celebrity theatre.
Location
Strand, London, United Kingdom
Worth knowing
- ★Britain's first luxury hotel, funded by Gilbert & Sullivan opera profits.
- ★Monet painted his Waterloo Bridge series from a Savoy window.
- ★Savoy Court is the only UK street where traffic drives on the right.
- ★A carved cat named Kaspar has been seated at unlucky tables of 13 since 1927.
Questions & answers
Why is the Savoy historically important?+
Opened in 1889, it was Britain's first luxury hotel — electric lights, lifts and unheard-of numbers of bathrooms — with César Ritz as first manager and Auguste Escoffier in the kitchen.
Which artists and stars are tied to the Savoy?+
Monet painted his Waterloo Bridge series from its river windows; Sinatra, Monroe, Chaplin and The Beatles held court here; Bob Dylan filmed his famous cue-card clip in an alley beside the hotel.
What is Kaspar?+
A carved wooden black cat, seated as the fourteenth guest at any table of 13 since 1927 — the Savoy's oldest piece of theatre. The hotel's forecourt is also the only UK street where cars drive on the right.
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