The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel

Interesting book about Savoy Hotel in London and the family that started it. The hotel was founded by Richard D'Oyly Carte from the profits of his theatre which produced Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. So essentially Carte was responsible for bringing such shows as The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance

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to the world. The book discusses some of the famous guests and events that took place there as well as some notorious events as well. It takes us through 3 generations of the family running the hotel and theatre as well as acquisition/creation of other hotels such as Claridges, as well as attempts by other groups to acquire the hotel. However, it really doesn't tell us too much about what the hotel is like today, who owns it, how did they acquire it, etc. Also, disappointed by the very few photographs that were included. Also, the author implied that folks such as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida were guests during WWII but neither started their careers til the early 1950's. Katharine Hepburn's name is spelled as Katherine on page 247.

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