UNITED KINGDOM: Savoy closes its doors and opens the bidding on items inside historic hotel

Record ID: 828451

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Savoy closes its doors and opens the bidding on items inside historic hotel
  • Date: 23rd December 2007
  • Summary: (L!3) LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (DECEMBER 17, 2007) (REUTERS) PAN OF EXTERIOR OF SAVOY HOTEL ENTRANCE ON THE STRAND CLOSEUP OF SIGN READING "SAVOY" DOORMAN TONY CORTEGACA WITH GUESTS SAVOY THEATRE SIGN ADVERTISING FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (SOUNDBITE) (English) TONY CORTEGACA, DOORMAN AT THE SAVOY FOR 20 YEARS, SAYING: "It's a fantastic hotel, a fantastic location. Great history, you know. I mean in 20 years it feels like I've been here, I don't know, six months. It's as fantastic as that to be honest and every day I wake up and I'm happy to come to work."
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVAAUCGHFZ82O85JU805FT9ONPWY
  • Story Text: The Savoy, a London landmark and one of the world's most famous hotels, has closed its doors and will begin to sell its contents on Tuesday (December 18) ahead of a complete refurbishment and redecoration.
    Selected contents from the prestigious Savoy Hotel in London, including 3,000 items of furniture from the hotel will be sold by Bonhams auction house.
    Doorman Tony Cortegaca has worked at the hotel for 20 years and says he'll be sad to see it shut its doors but is also equally excited about what the future holds and the many memories he'll take with him to his new job.

    "It's a fantastic hotel, a fantastic location. Great history, you know. I mean in 20 years it feels like I've been here, I don't know, six months. It's as fantastic as that to be honest and every day I wake up and I'm happy to come to work," he said ahead of his final shift on Thursday (December 20).
    The hotel is expected to remain closed for at least 16 months and Cortegaca will be working at another London hotel, the Lanesborough, when his shifts finish at the Savoy.
    Built in 1889, The Savoy Hotel has become a name synonymous with luxury and style.

    "It was built originally to accommodate the very, very successful Savoy theatre that opened up eight years previously for the guests coming into town either from abroad or from parts of the country to stay in proximity to the Savoy in a very luxurious environment," said the hotel's General Manager Kiaran MacDonald.
    For over a century its guests have included the world's most glamorous, wealthy and powerful figures including Alfred Hitchcock, Humphrey Bogart, Coco Chanel; political heavyweights Harry S Truman and Sir Winston Churchill; French Impressionist artist Claude Monet; musicians The Beatles and Bob Dylan; and film stars, such as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Wayne.
    The furniture including lighting, mirrors, trademark pink tablecloths, works of art, and silver, will all be offered at "no reserve", which means that items could go for as little as whatever buyers offer to bid.
    However, some of the more important furnishings are expected to fetch in excess of £15,000 ($30,000 USD).
    Selected items from The Savoy Hotel's public areas including The Lobby, The Upper Thames Foyer, The Thames Foyer, The Beaufort Room and The River Restaurant will be auctioned.
    Two pairs of 24-light tôle-peinte chandeliers from The Thames Foyer, each pair estimated at £10,000-15,000 (20,000-30,000 USD) are also expected to attract buyers.
    The majority of lots consist of furnishings from 215 bedrooms and suites, including the famous Monet Suite.
    Items for sale include more than 200 bespoke made beds complete with laundered bed linen mattresses estimated to fetch £400-600 (800-1,200 USD).

    "There are going to be some clients who want to just come and look at the bedrooms and look at the amazing double-beds we've got on offer here, the bedroom furniture. And then there will be sort of the collector's items that people might want - just a small momento, like some of the plates and crockery and silverware from downstairs in storerooms," said Harvey Cammell, Bonhams' director of the sale.
    Twenty silver-plated rectangular butlers' trays made by Elkington & Co for The Savoy, which bear the Savoy name. Savoy soup cups and saucers made by Royal Daulton are estimated to be worth £30-50 ($60-100 USD).
    The three-day sale, held at the hotel from December 18-20, is expected to fetch in excess of $2 million (USD).
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