The Savoy London

The Savoy is London's original purpose-built luxury hotel, opened on the Strand in 1889 with electric lighting that startled the city. It has never been redesigned in one pass. Of its 263 rooms and suites, 162 keep an Edwardian character, in grey and tangerine, while the rest turn to Art Deco, with gold and caramel tones and marble bathrooms on the Strand side. Claude Monet stayed here in 1899 and painted the Thames from his window; the view he had is still on offer from the river-facing rooms today. The Royal Suite runs to 264 square metres and has hosted politicians, royals, and film stars, while the Terrace Suite is the only room in the hotel with its own terrace over the water. Guests in river-view suites get a dedicated butler, on hand from arrival to departure. Penhaligon's, the British perfumer founded in 1870, makes an in-suite line exclusively for the hotel. The concierge team works London connections built up over generations, from West End tickets to hard-to-get tables. Downstairs, the American Bar has its own following. The hotel sits a short walk from Covent Garden and the river itself runs past the front door, close enough to hear from a river-facing room.