"This was our third stay at the Savoy (August 2025), which we have visited each summer for the last 3 years. Our first 2 stays were exceptional, and undoubtedly enhanced by the superb Guest Relations manager Nitsa. She had left before this latest trip, and I would unfortunately say things were worse without her.
The hotel is luxurious and wonderfully located. The vibe is very very nice. A lot of the service was good (although not often exceptional). We really enjoy the breakfast at the River restaurant and the pool. We had a great meal in 1890 this trip, really enjoyed it. The American bar was closed this trip.
The following are my negatives:
1. Stayed in the 1 bedroom river suite again. It's been renovated, and in my opinion they made a big mistake with the furniture. There is a medium sized chaise longue instead of a sofa, and its really uncomfortable for 2 people. Only one person has back support, and its just not ideal for a couple watching TV together for instance. The new furniture made the suite much less comfortable for lounging in. We also missed the generous supply of nice glass bottles of water around the suite that we had enjoyed on previous stays.
2. Our package include use of the house car (Rolls Royce). We asked to use this one time during our trip, and our butler called us to let us know it would be available in 5 minutes and to head down to the lobby. We did this, but when we got there unfortunately the head doorman seemed to be having a bad day. I just introduced myself and said that we had been told to come down and ask for the car. This made him very irritated and he ranted to me that this should never have been promised and there is no expectation of the house car and we shouldn't be here asking for it. It was incredibly humiliating, and I didn't even say anything more than why we'd come down. I was pretty shocked at the Savoy for this, and I could see other guests (and staff) who looked surprised at the interaction. To re-iterate I didn't even express disappointment that it wasn't immediately available, or even say a word. I get it - the car is first come first serve, but wow this guy was mad.
I apologized for inconveniencing him and asked why we had made him so angry with us. He seemed to calm down and check himself at that point. Bad day for him I guess, but a terrible guest experience.
3. Our butler service was worse than previous. Most requests got handled, but the phone in our room was not programmed to dial the butler service, so I waited 11 minutes on hold the first time I tried to reach them. I don't think this is what the hotel is going for with the elevated luxury of a Butler.... The phone got replaced and the issue was sorted, I presume is was an issue because of the recent renovation. The other thing was at check in the Butler said we could get 3 items pressed each day of our stay. I questioned her on this as it had previously been once per stay. She said no, its been a change to improve the guest experience. She knocked the door the next day after I requested a second item to be pressed to say she was wrong, it was only once per stay. Not a big deal, but if I was a manager here I'd be honoring the promise for such a marginal cost.
4. No welcome drink was offered in our suite, which was the case previously. I did ask about this, and they said they forgot. Ah well, its a nice thing when it happens. I would also add that at check in the receptionist excitedly produced a couple of sheets for my kids to fill in about things they wanted during the stay (it said what time do you want milk and cookies for instance). We hadn't seen this before, and I thought it was a really lovely improvement. However - it didn't happen. They got my kids excited about it and then failed to deliver, which is really bad of the hotel. Way better to not set any expectations if they aren't fulfilled, its not fair on the kids.
I would say the views from our room can't be beaten in London, absolutely spectacular."
