Wow, that is some achievement, legacy, history.
My personal fav are:
- 3. The Savoy was the first hotel to be built of incombustible material throughout.
- 4. First hotel to generate its own electricity supply
- 7. First hotel to install electric lifts, known in typical Savoy fashion as ‘ascending rooms’.
- 8. First hotel to provide constant hot and cold running water in each bedroom.\
- 10. First hotel whose all-in tariff had no ‘hidden extras’.
- 11. The Savoy provided its clientele with the first 24 hour room service.
- 12. First hotel to introduce room service facilitated by ‘speaking tube’ connected to the restaurant
- 18. Legendary Maitre-chef Auguste Escoffier was the first famous chef at The Savoy
- 24. The first (and last) time The Savoy’s central courtyard was deliberately flooded was for the famous “Gondola Party” of 1905. The courtyard floor was made watertight and flooded to a depth of 4 feet, scenery erected around the walls, gondolas built, costumes designed, so that the host, George Kessler, an American millionaire, could entertain his guests in a recreated Venice
- 34. The first hotel rooms with artificial sunshine, installed in 1929
- 43. The Savoy was the first hotel to print its own menus, setting up a small printing department for the purpose.
- 49. In 1937 The Savoy became the first hotel to offer its own special blend of coffee for sale by mail order.
- 61. First hotel to publish its own book of cocktail recipes.
- 71. The first fireproof eiderdown provided to an unsuspecting guest was for actor Lionel Barrymore, who had a habit of chain-smoking while reading in bed.
- 82. First hotel in Britain to run its own school to train hoteliers.
& the best one is "94. The Savoy was the first hotel to have its own poultry farm!"
Click here to see all the 100!