The surprising history of The Savoy – and why the A-list love it

As See How They Run hits the big screen this weekend, its esteemed cast including Oscar winners and nominees Adrien Brody, Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan are joined by another star: the Savoy Hotel. The film is a classic British whodunnit caper set in London’s West End in the 1950s, around celebrations for the hundredth performance of Agatha Christie’s hit play The Mousetrap, of which plans for the movie version are afoot.

The Savoy was opened in 1889 by theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte, owner of the Savoy Theatre. Over the years, Agatha Christie was a frequent visitor to the hotel, which regularly hosted events for her plays. In 1954, Christie attended the first-night party held for The Spider’s Web. And in 1962, The Savoy’s pastry chefs created a half-ton cake, featuring sugar paste mousetrap and mice, cut into by a delighted Christie, commemorating the first 10 years of The Mousetrap’s staggering run. 

The Savoy has a long celluloid-linked history, dating back to the adaptation of HG Wells’ novel Kipps in 1920. During the shoot, Wells sloped in, perching behind a potted plant in an attempt to remain unseen. Subsequently, numerous filmmakers have fallen for the hotel’s Art Deco splendour, with The Long Good Friday, Notting Hill and The French Lieutenant’s Woman just a small selection of cinematic favourites to have filmed scenes there over the years.

A salient moment in See How They Run references how aspirational a stay at the Savoy was, when the promise of a room in the five-star hotel is used as a bargaining chip. As Christie regularly mentioned the esteemed property in her stories, it was the ultimate filming location, and the closure of the hotel owing to the pandemic offered the crew unprecedented access.

Famous guests and the birth of celebrity culture

Open to them was the Royal Suite, which was re-dressed with darker hues, reflecting its occupants’ seedy personality. Since reopening, the suite has been reimagined once more; its current iteration an homage to a young luggage porter who once worked at the Savoy. Guccio Gucci was so inspired by the stylish clothing and baggage of the hotel’s guests that one century ago, he returned to Italy and launched his eponymous leather goods company.

The Savoy’s rich heritage can be traced back to the Prince of Wales, prior to being crowned King Edward VII. D’Oyly Carte recognised that for his hotel to thrive, he needed to attract a fashionable clientele. To help achieve this, he recruited legendary Swiss hotelier César Ritz, whose hotels were popular with English aristocracy, specifically the Prince of Wales, whom he was great friends with. Ritz opened the in-house restaurant, instantly making the Savoy a novelty amongst hotels, becoming not only a place to stay, but a place to be seen.

Ritz laid on the charm and the well-heeled flocked to this exciting new establishment, as did performers from the Opera House and nearby theatres. During the early years, the hotel lured such luminaries as Puccini, George Gershwin and Nellie Melba – for whom renowned chef Escoffier created the “Peach Melba” – Monet, who famously painted views of The Thames from his hotel bedroom and Oscar Wilde, who was ejected for not paying his bill.

A pioneering space for women 

Although feted for its famous guests, the hotel’s place in history is merited for several pioneering firsts when it opened. Notably, it was the first public building to install lifts, be completely lit by electricity and have hot water readily available.
At that time, it wasn’t respectable for women to be seen unchaperoned in public. The Savoy played a crucial role in changing this. One day, the wife of one of the Prince of Wales’ racing friends hosted a lunch party in the restaurant. A screen was placed around the women so they weren’t visible, but Susan Scott, The Savoy’s in-house archivist explains, “When everyone heard them having such a jolly time, they thought, ‘Well, if they can do it, why can’t we?’” and thus began the practice of ladies who lunch.

As a result of this new-found social freedom and with the Savoy’s close proximity to Fleet Street, newspapers would send reporters along who would sit in a corner taking notes on who was there and what they were wearing. With nowhere else to go, Scott adds that as well as cornering the market, “The Savoy accidentally invented celebrity culture”.

The American Bar – which regularly appears in the top echelons of the best bars in the world lists – was well ahead of the curve in appointing its first female head bartender, Ada Coleman, in 1903 (though it was more than another century until they employed another one). During her 23 years helming the bar, she created the Hanky-Panky cocktail, serving the likes of Mark Twain and Marlene Dietrich.

During the heyday of cinema, the Savoy would invariably be a fixture on visiting film stars’ itineraries, drawing huge crowds. Doris Day recorded an interview there for her fan club; Marilyn Monroe was escorted by new husband Arthur Miller when conducting a photo call; and Charlie Chaplin liked it so much that he moved into a suite on the fifth floor for three months. It wouldn’t be uncommon to come across a familiar figure, tinkling the ivories in the foyer late at night – Frank Sinatra’s chosen method of unwinding post-performance. And in 1965, Bob Dylan filmed the iconic placard-throwing video for Subterranean Homesick Blues in the Savoy’s alleyway.

The staff that make it

Perhaps the largest contributing factor to the Savoy’s enduring success is the unparalleled staff and their loyalty. Sean Davoren joined in the late 1970s, working his way up from “a lowly commis waiter” to current position, Head of Guest Relations. When I enquire about some of the illustrious guests Sean has served, he replies, “You would have to send me to the Tower of London before I give you a name. The Savoy is built on discretion and if you stay here, your secrets are very safe.” Although he is happy to discuss former resident Richard Harris: “My favourite anecdote is when he was taken out on a stretcher when feeling unwell and had the cheek to say the food killed him.” For Davoren, “the word ‘no’ doesn’t exist. I once had to do a round-trip on Concorde to pick up a guest’s jewellery.”

Robert LeBihan has worked in hotels for 35 years and for the past 12 years as the Savoy’s doorman. “The doorperson role is crucial to the experience of everyone who comes to the hotel and I treat my role as custodian of a great history. When guests see a friendly face they recognise, this enhances their experience.” This works both ways: “I’m a guitarist, so meeting Jimmy Page and Keith Richards was a real thrill. If I’d kept a record of everyone I’d met here, it would be a who’s who of contemporary culture.” 

The Savoy remains at the hub of modern day society; its Art Deco interior now the ultimate backdrop for the Instagram generation. Heralding the hotel’s return post-lockdown comeback, the Critic’s Choice awards recently took over The American Bar for the live broadcast, attracting a plethora of A-list talent. Thrilled by the return of glamour and mystique, Sean Davoren observed: “When you see Lady Gaga lying on your couch, there’s something special to that.”

See How They Run is released on September 9. To coincide with the film’s release, the Savoy (020 7836 4343; thesavoylondon.com) is offering a Screen Dreams package from £1,150 that includes a one-night stay with breakfast, ‘The Whodunit’ cocktail, Penhaligon’s fragrance experience and cinema tickets to the film. See the full review of the hotel here. 

'My time as a writer in residence at The Savoy'

By Kathy Lette

Ransom notes are the most lucrative form of writing, so it’s no coincidence that most “writers in residence” programmes are run in prisons. Imagine my surprise then when I received a call from the Savoy Hotel in 2003, asking if I’d be interested in moving into a river-side suite for three months as their resident scribe.

 “Would I be interested? Are you kidding? What do you want? My first-born child? An internal organ?!” For the rest of the day I smiled so hard I pulled a muscle. 

When I moved in, my Art Deco suite was so sumptuous I never once got up before the crack of noon. Would you when you’re served breakfast in bed every morning by tautly muscled Adonises in crisp white jackets? 

The view proved just as inspirational. Strings of fairy lights flickered on the inky waters of the Thames all the way from the fluted Houses of Parliament to the Globe theatre. The square windows of passing boats, lit from within, made them look like illuminated harmonicas. I kept demanding my friends ring up to ask me the time. “Okaaay... What’s the time Kath?” they’d ask, bewildered.

“Not sure,” I’d gloatingly reply. “Just let me look out the window at BIG BEN!” 

So, how did the world’s most pampered residency come about? Well, the Savoy was keen to rekindle its literary links. Not only was the hotel built on the financial back of the Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, but it has also been home to a literary minestrone of famous writers - Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola, Mark Twain, Somerset Maugham, Hilaire Belloc, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Fielding, Rudyard Kipling... Kathy Lette: a natural segue, I told myself.

Months of fun and frivolity ensued. The Minogues would pop by for parties in the Art Deco pool. John Mortimer, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant and Salman Rushdie joined me to co-host literary dinners. Friends stayed over for pyjama parties where we dialled our fingers to the bone ordering room service.

Mel Brooks had the suite next to mine; Graham Norton worked out in the gym and the American Bar was so full of Hollywood stars that I contracted A-Listeria. The head bartender even invited me to concoct a bespoke cocktail, which we christened “Kathy Cassis” (a lot of research hours went into that one as you can imagine). Is it any wonder I spent my residency smiling as smugly as a canary-filled cat? Although I didn’t write much – mainly cheques for more champagne. 

When my tenure came to an end, I found it unbearably hard to go back to the domestic drudgeries of real life. Because that’s the only problem with being the Savoy’s writer in residence – parting is such suite sorrow.

Kathy Lette is the author of 20 books and a Telegraph Travel columnist