Sell-off signals facelift for Savoy

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The hotel, renowned for its Art Deco style and faded elegance, has been a major draw for the glamorous and powerful since opening in 1889. Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart and Dame Vera Lynn have used its elegant rooms, as have Marilyn Monroe, a honeymooning Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich.

Steeped in a golden age of style and lavish gatherings, the hotel is known as the birthplace of the ice cream dessert peach melba, created for soprano Dame Nellie Melba.

Celebrated bartender Harry Craddock invented countless classic cocktails in the 1920s and 1930s from its American Bar, popularising the Dry Martini around the world. Claude Monet painted views of the River Thames from the hotel, in London's Strand.

The hotel has also been a backdrop for scandal. In 1923 it was the scene of a killing, when Marie-Marguerite Fahmy shot and killed her husband, Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey.

The lots are being removed from 215 bedrooms and suites, including the famous Monet Suite, the Royal Opera House Suite and the Richard Harris Suite, where the hell-raising actor lived for a while.

About 3,000 items, including chandeliers, cake racks, linen and beds are among lots being offered by Bonhams auction house during three days of sales starting on December 18.

Some of the more lavish furnishings, including a 12-panel trompe l'oeil screen and chandeliers from the Thames Foyer are expected to fetch more than £15,000 at the three-day December sale.

"The most important thing was to honour the Art Deco heritage and traditional English design of the hotel, while upgrading the property," said Kiaran MacDonald, the Savoy's general manager.

The hotel's first manager was Cesar Ritz, who later founded the renowned Ritz Hotel in London's Piccadilly. It is expected to re-open in 2009 following the £100 million facelift.