#1 in Top 20 London for Business · ★★★★★
The Savoy
Embankment-side suites with desks, the deal hotel that birthed the American Bar after-meeting drink.
Embankment-side suites with desks, the deal hotel that birthed the American Bar after-meeting drink.
"Embankment-side suites with desks, the deal hotel that birthed the American Bar after-meeting drink."
The Savoy opened in 1889 on the Strand and remains the most-influential luxury hotel in the English-speaking world. Richard D'Oyly Carte built it with the proceeds of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas; César Ritz ran it before he built his own; Auguste Escoffier ran the kitchen. The hotel is now owned by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and operated under the Fairmont umbrella, but the operating culture has remained continuously its own. Two hundred and sixty-seven rooms and suites, the Royal Suite (the only suite with two interconnecting Royal Suite Salons) and the Personality Suites named after Sinatra, Monet, and Marlene Dietrich are the multi-bedroom flagships. The American Bar, open since 1893, designed in art-deco-restored form, currently rated among the best bars in London, has been the after-meeting room for two generations of City lawyers and bankers. Kaspar's Bar serves a more discreet alternative. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill is the room for the deal-closing business dinner. The Savoy is the right pick for the London business trip where the after-meeting drink at the American Bar is part of the rhythm of the day, where the Strand-and-Embankment geography matters (the Royal Courts of Justice, Somerset House, and the Inner Temple are within walking distance), and where the Edwardian-luxury operating culture is the right signal for a senior client meeting. The trade-off is honest: Strand-facing rooms catch street noise, and at the entry tier some rooms run snug for the rate, so book a River-view category if the Thames outlook matters.
Personality Suite (Sinatra, Monet, or Dietrich) for the character flagship, Royal Suite for the multi-bedroom option, or River-view Junior Suite for the entry-level Thames-facing room.
The American Bar at 6.30pm is the after-meeting room; book a corner two-top forty-eight hours in advance. The Savoy Grill 7pm is the business dinner; the table at the back, against the window, is the editor's table. Use the Embankment side entrance for discreet arrivals.
The Savoy sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in London for Business list. It scored an aggregate 9.8/10 across the three editorial criteria, competitive against the field but, on business-specific factors, the angle above is what earned its rank. For the alternatives in the same London neighbourhood, see The Strand, West End and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
Once your dates are fixed, aim to reserve the room about three months out. Suites with the prime view angle sell through first; for peak months, availability is measured in months rather than weeks. Suites with a private plunge pool or terrace, the very rooms behind this rank, usually vanish first.
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