Box Seven Design. Irish Interior Design Observations and more: Return of the Grande Dame

Friday, October 15, 2010

Return of the Grande Dame

I'm in need of a little glamour to ward off the heralds of Irish financial doom.
London's Savoy Hotel which the first and grandest of London's great hotels has re-opened after a £220m makeover. It had been closed since December 2007. The American bar at the Savoy was where Cocktails were first introduced to Britain, the Savoy Cocktail book is still in print. Noel Coward was a regular here and other stars of the golden age of cinema included Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire and Marlene Dietrich. Monet painted his Thames scenes from his hotel room balcony at the Savoy. Perhaps the true sign of its pedigree is that its first manager was Cesar Ritz and we know which hotel he ended up founding.

Designer Pierre-Yves Rochon has done a fantastic job throughout the hotel but the piece de resistance has to be the fantastic environment that is the Beaufort Bar. Rochon has handled himself adeptly I love the whole dark look, black and gold. An apparent budget of £20,000 for black silk velvet curtains must have helped and to line the alcoves with gold leaf cost a mere £38,000.