Series of delays push Savoy reopening back to March 2010

The general manager of the Savoy today admitted that the iconic London hotel will not reopen until March next year, after a series of “unexpected developments” in the £100m refurbishment.

The project has been plagued by delays, already slipping from May to the autumn and Kiaran MacDonald has now confirmed the property would not open “until the end of the first quarter of 2010” although he added that this was the final time it would be postponed.

“The unknowns are now behind us, and we all believe in this new opening date- the contractors, subcontractors, architects, are all on the same playing field,” he told Caterersearch.

MacDonald said the hotel would begin recruiting staff between September and December in order to train them in time for the opening.

Doubts were raised about whether the Savoy would re-open this year following a £100m refurbishment earlier this month, after the hotel’s owner, Fairmont Hotels, admitted it wasn’t taking any event bookings for 2009.

The re-opening date had already slipped from May to the autumn, with Fairmont attributing the delays to a “deterioration of the building’s infrastructure”.

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By Gemma Sharkey

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