Cheryl (boomerbooklover) - reviewed on 10/19/2023 + 437 more book reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed this account of the Savoy Hotel in London and the family that owned and managed it. Richard D'Oyly Carte dreamed of entertaining, wholesome theater for the middle classes - something between music halls for the masses and the opera for the elite. Partnering with Gilbert and Sullivan, the fortunes made on their light operas funded a theater, and later a luxury hotel, the Savoy. The Savoy had its own print shop, for theatre programs and hotel menus; laundry, for theater costumes and hotel linens; bakery, which produced 45,000 rolls in house per week; mattress factory; and an army of ladies to embroider the linens with the Savoy crest. The managers kept notes on the requests and desires of their repeat customers, including everything from how they liked their oatmeal and what they liked to drink, to how the butler should arrange their toiletries in the bathroom. An entire room was eventually dedicated to the storage of these notes. Fascinating story of an iconic hotel and the eccentric family that owned and ran it for three generations.

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