Check into Christmas
London’s Savoy Hotel goes all out to create the perfect festive experience for guests
WOW – we’re in a hospitality venue that’s fully open, with no mention of social distancing, substantial meals or Scotch eggs, no lockdown or tier restrictions, and drunken revellers are happily hugging everyone around.
Remember those days? This documentary was filmed at Christmas 2019, so it’s a nice taste of normality.
Well, that might be a stretch.
It’s normality for people who can afford a few grand a night for a hotel suite, quaff champagne like it’s fizzy pop, and buy each other Rolexes for Christmas.
The Savoy was the first luxury hotel in Britain, situated on the River Thames and home to anyone who’s anyone over its 130-year history, and Christmas is their biggest and busiest time of the year, when the opulence and extravagance knows no bounds.
We’re going behind the scenes with the staff, to discover just what it takes to keep their guests happy.
When you’re flashing that kind of cash, you expect the best – whether that’s personalised embroidered pillows, having presents wrapped and the tree decorated by your butler, or magnums of champagne dlivered to your suite with a perfect view of the New Year fireworks at midnight.
Not everyone’s a wannabe Kardashian though: we also meet Howell Harris, a regular festive guest for years, who’s returning to the hotel – and the staff he views as family – for the first time since his beloved mum died.
Head butler Sean surprises him with a Christmas treat that left us in tears.
THE SAVOY AT CHRISTMAS ITV, 9pm