The very British institution that is the Savoy Group is made up of four London properties: the Savoy, Claridge's, Berkeley and Connaught hotels. It has a colourful history.
1889: Entrepreneur Mr Richard D'Oyly Carte founded the group when he opened the Savoy Hotel, a place to stay for audiences attending the nearby theatre of the same name. He hired legendary Parisian hotelier Mr Cézar Ritz and his chef, Mr Auguste Escoffier, who built up its reputation as a fashionable place to stay and to dine. During the 1890s they opened the Savoy Grill restaurant.
1894: Mr D'Oyly Carte bought Claridge's, then owned by Mr William Claridge and his wife, Marianne.
1901: Mr D'Oyly Carte bought the Berkeley and his son, Rupert, succeeded him as chairman of the three-hotel business on his death in the same year.
From early on it began attracting celebrities, including the actress Sara Bernhardt in the early 20th century, and later Britain's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill.
1956: The Savoy Group bought the Connaught Hotel.
1998: The Blackstone Group and Colony Capital bought the Savoy group from its then owners, the Wontner family, for 786 million and embarked on a 90 million refurbishment that included the re-design of the Savoy Grill.
The group, managed by an Irishwoman, chief executive Ms Geraldine McKenna, leased Claridge's and the Connaught restaurants to chef Gordon Ramsey and the others to his associates, Mr Marcus Wareing and Ms Angela Hartnett. It hired Irish architect Mr David Collins to redesign the hotels' bars and restaurants.
Between 1998 and 2000, it grew profits from 40 million to 83 million. In 2001, foot-and-mouth and the World Trade Centre attacks in New York hit its business. In 2002, it made profits of 66 million.
2004: The Derek Quinlan-controlled Quinlan Private said yesterday that it and a number of un-named Irish investors had bought the hotel group for 1.13 billion.
During its 115-year history, the Savoy Hotel has survived two world wars, the London Blitz and visits by Mr Elton John (according to its website, he once accidentally damaged some rooms by letting his bath overflow).
