Savoy delays re-opening, again

The operators of London's most famous hotel said it would now not throw open its doors again until "early 2010" compared with an original date of May this year.

In February this was pushed back to the Autumn but massively more complicated building work than anticipated has forced a second delay.

The huge restoration of the 120 year old Strand landmark now looks certain to exceed its original £100 million budget. The refurbishment project began in December 2007.

A spokesman for the Canadian Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, which runs the hotel on behalf of its owners including billionaire Saudi sheikh of Saudi Arabia, blamed the latest delay on "two key factors."

There were the poor condition of the hotel's services infrastructure and the discovery of original design elements that needed to be protected.

A spokesman for Fairmont said: "We discovered that much of the services infrastructure (water, heat and power) was in a far worse condition than we had anticipated. In most cases, the pipeline and electrical networks had to be completely replaced and of course, this is such invasive work.

"Secondly, and more encouragingly, as the restructuring works peeled back' layers of history, original design elements were revealed that had been hidden for decades, and it was important that these were either protected or, in some cases, incorporated into the new designs."

The delay means that the reopening of Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill restaurant has also been put back.

Designer Pierre-Yves Rochon is director of works. The transformation includes reopening the River Restaurant, closed eight years ago and an upgrading of the hotel's 268 rooms.

But industry observers fear that the five-star Savoy could struggle to attract guests to its £350-a-night rooms in the current economic climate.

There has been persistent speculation that Prince Alwaleed is looking for a buyer for the hotel, which would be valued at around £2oo million.

If the hotel is sold, the new owners will be the fifth in little more than a decade. It was bought from its long standing British owners in 1998 by American private equity house Blackstone.

In 2004 it was snapped up by a group of Irish investors who sold it on to the prince's Fairmont hotels group eight months later for an estimated £250million. The prince is also said to be selling another of his most famous hotels, Raffles in Singapore, for up to £300million.