At the Savoy

Saturday, February 2nd., Cadogan Square, London.

Rupert Carte

Yesterday, lunch at the Savoy with Reeves Smith, Rupert Carte, Thornewill and Temple. They showed me over the hotel, by arrangement, as I have an idea of writing a novel with a great hotel at its centre. They know I will give it a fictitious name but I expect they believe good publicity will arise as its provenance becomes known. And of course I will formally acknowledge their assistance. They told me that the Savoy took in receipts a total of a million a year, about £3,000 a day.

Complex systems for tips which differ for waiters, chambermaids, valets, porters etc. Arcane. But not to be interfered with - hotel people are very conservative it appears.
Kitchen - Head Chef under thirty. Worked his way up. Wore a natty little cravat without collar. Stores. Fish in tanks. The man who calls out orders as they come down is called the aboyeur. I didn't see a great deal of special interest in the kitchens, except the patent washer-up.
Power station - Artesian wells. geared turbines. Power for carpet sweepers, pumping etc. The power station reminded me of the stoke hold of the Lusitania which I saw before the war when I went to the United States. Run by oil now. ventilated by vast draughts of cold air through trumpet-like things. Water heaters for both.
Graph Office (Capt. Jack) - graphs for various receipts. In summer receipts for rooms go up, and retaurant receipts go down. Londoners away in summer. Hence there are two publics; the travelling and the home publics - very distinct.
Audit Department - every bill separately checked, but afterwards. Every query on them has to be cleared up.
Printing Office -  all menus, cards, programmes and large bills. In their spare time they do the hotel's commercial printing, such as order forms.
Repairs Department - I didn't see this. But they plan all their big carpets there. However I saw through a window in the side-street the room where 10 to 12 women repair the hotel linen every day.
Laundry - Clapham. I didn't see it. An American expert said it was undoubtedly the finest equipped laundry in the world.
Bedrooms and suites - 6 guineas a day for double-bed and sitting room, bath etc. 9 guineas for two bedrooms and sitting room. It pleases visitors best that the rooms should be, if anything, too warm when shown. Thornewill had given orders previous night that one suite should not be let, so that I might see it at my ease.

A very instructive visit. Reinforces my view that a great hotel is a sort of organism and that it could, if dealt with properly, become almost a character in a novel. Much food for thought in this. I will allow the idea to 'ferment' in my mind, and one day it will burst forth.