For more than 135 years, The Savoy has stood as a defining presence on the banks of the Thames. Since its debut in 1889, the iconic hotel has set the standard for luxury hospitality. Here, elegance is a way of life and history, and modernity are woven seamlessly together…
The roll call of those who have passed through its revolving doors reads like a who’s who. Claude Monet captured the shimmering Thames from his suite window. A young Guccio Gucci, then a luggage porter, internalised the hotel’s impeccable standards before channelling them into one of fashion’s most iconic empires.
From Hollywood royalty to actual royalty, artists to iconoclasts, the Savoy has always attracted a discerning clientele.
From the very beginning, the hotel manifested a talent for the revolutionary. London’s first luxury hotel rewrote the rulebook by introducing electric lighting, lifts, and en-suite bathrooms at a time when such comforts bordered on science fiction. That instinct for innovation, for being quietly, confidently ahead of the curve, has never left the building.
Architecturally, The Savoy tells its story in two distinct chapters. The Edwardian rooms, many gazing out across the Thames, speak in the language of classical grandeur and the hushed tones of cultural refinement. Along the Strand, the Art Deco interiors make their entrance with bold geometry, theatrical glamour, a space that demands a cocktail and a story. Two eras, one enduring address.
Image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
Embracing duality
It is precisely this duality between the familiar and the fearlessly new, that sets the tone for the latest guest room refurbishment, completed in 2026.
Behind this renovation stands a collective of extraordinary talent including co-owner, Kingdom Hotel Investments; client representatives, Artizan Group; GA, responsible for the interior and architectural design; Nulty, lighting design consultants; and Accor, the multinational hospitality group, to name just a few. In today’s fiercely competitive luxury landscape, the goal is to craft a property that remains true to its iconic heritage while responding to modern expectations of comfort, technology, and customisation.
Tareq Fontane, Senior Vice President at Kingdom Hotel Investments, explained, “The renovation was a key priority for us. It’s about planning for the future and maintaining the property to the highest quality standard, meeting the expectations of our guests and protecting the hotel’s long-term positioning.” Many luxury competitors are staking their claim in the London market. Ultimately, for a hotel like The Savoy, continuous reinvestment is essential not only to maintain quality, but to celebrate the legacy.
That strategic imperative introduced a complex design challenge, how to unify the guest rooms’ two distinct design languages. Associate interior designer Wing Tam chose to treat the schemes as “distinct but complementary expressions of The Savoy’s heritage,” crafting rooms that honour their respective eras while flowing together as part of a cohesive guest journey. In the Edwardian rooms, silver, ivory silk, marble, and antique brass conjure a quiet, considered opulence. In the Art Deco spaces, stronger geometry, polished finishes, and The Savoy’s signature green deliver something altogether more dramatic. “The goal was to create spaces that feel timeless rather than nostalgic, that are aligned with how people want to live and travel today.” noted Wing Tam.
Image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
Layering Light
In a hotel where atmosphere has always been part of the signature, light needed to do far more than illuminate. It needed to define boundaries, articulate mood, support the rhythm of the day, and reinforce the identity of each unique space. Lutron lighting and shading solutions play a pivotal role in delivering this immersive environment.
The lighting design team approached this challenge by layering ambient, task and decorative light to create rooms that feel intimate yet adaptable, while allowing the Thames views and natural daylight to play their own starring roles. In suites with dining areas, lighting was choreographed to prioritise “warmth and intimacy”, enabling rooms to transition gracefully from tranquil morning retreat to glamorous evening entertaining space.
“The Savoy stands apart as one of London’s most unique landmarks, one that bridges Edwardian and Art Deco eras,” said Ellie Coombs, Managing Partner at Nulty Lighting. For the project. “We focused on delivering a cohesive design aesthetic that feels authentic.” Traditional decorative luminaires were reinstated wherever possible, reinforcing the original character of the interiors, and complemented by a bespoke lighting and shading solution. Lutron’s advanced lighting control technology allowed Nulty to deliver the flexibility, reliability and refinement it deserved.
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- Image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
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- Image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
A seamless approach to lighting and shading
The challenge was to satisfy two distinct audiences, those discovering The Savoy for the first time, seeking a refined, contemporary experience, and those returning with an expectation of how it should feel.
Modernisation needed to feel invisible, to evolve the experience without breaking its continuity, so loyal guests recognise the space instantly and experience the upgrade as an intriguing sensation. Lutron’s myRoom XC guestroom management solution is central to delivering that balance, unifying lighting, shading, and temperature into one intelligent platform without making the rooms feel contrived or overcomplicated.
For Nicholas Du Toit, of Accor “such lighting and shading solutions have become the backbone of service delivery in a modern hotel,” not merely lighting control, but platforms connecting comfort, sustainability, operational performance, and the wider guest journey. In luxury hospitality, he added, they are “a mandatory requirement.” The challenge for a hotel like The Savoy is meeting contemporary expectations without compromising the character that defines it.”
Image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
The intelligence behind the elegance
Delivering an intuitive guest experience demands precision behind the scenes. Nulty designed several pre-programmed lighting and shading scenes, including a ‘Welcome’ setting that establishes a warm, inviting ambience on arrival, and an ‘Evening’ scene that gently transitions the space into night.
For Wing Tam, the appeal of Lutron lay in equal measure across both disciplines – a system flexible enough to integrate seamlessly with the existing building infrastructure yet refined enough to disappear into interiors where aesthetics mattered just as much as intelligence. GA selected Lutron’s Palladiom keypad range during the prototype stage, specifically because its finish and profile could move comfortably between Edwardian and Art Deco schemes. The controls needed to be pleasurable to use, tactile, refined interfaces that complement and enhance the room’s design.
Lutron’s myRoom XC solution ensures these interactions feel effortless. Keypads, discreetly positioned at the bedside, give guests simple control, including a master-off button that turns off every light without the guest leaving the comfort of the bed. Decorative table and floor lamps are fully integrated into the wider scheme, while retaining localised control where needed. The result is a system that is intuitive by design and aligned with the natural rhythm of the guest experience.
Operationally, the system also earns its keep. Energy conservation was a defined requirement in the project brief, and the guestroom management system enables room-level energy monitoring via a central dashboard, contributing to the project’s BREEAM targets while helping manage efficiency across this landmark hotel with significant energy demands. Glenn Huskie, of Artizan Group, explained, “Lutron is a highly user-friendly technology that delivers real value, both in enhancing the guest experience and reducing energy consumption,” he says. “It’s an intuitive, intelligent design.”
A performance worthy of the stage
Completing the renovation while delivering the same uncompromising experience of elegance, control, and performance within a fully operating, heritage hotel required something close to a masterclass in project management. The Savoy remained open throughout the entire works, with phased construction carefully orchestrated to minimise any disruption to guests. For Tareq Fontane of Kingdom Investments, success at this scale comes down to a rare combination of design ambition, partner selection, governance, and the kind of trust that only genuine collaboration produces. Phase one was completed, he noted, “a month ahead of schedule and perfectly on budget,” an impressive result for such an ambitious project.
That collaborative spirit runs through every account of the refurbishment. Glenn Huskie described the role of project lead as akin to ‘a conductor of an orchestra,’ ensuring all disciplines worked in harmony and pull in the same direction. ‘Our responsibility was to select the right consultants, contractors, and suppliers, ensure they understood the goals, and guide them through the process. That alignment is what made the project successful.’
The result is a refurbishment entirely worthy of The Savoy. Respectful, assured, and brilliantly forward-looking. It preserves the warmth, character and sense of occasion that guests have cherished across generations, while introducing the intuitive technology and layered comfort that define the very finest in modern luxury hospitality.
In doing so, it reaffirmed something that has always been The Savoy’s most remarkable quality, its extraordinary ability to move with the times while remaining, unmistakably, itself.
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Main image credit: GA / What the Fox Studios
