A recent phone call from an agent resulted in a December photo shoot for Marionnaud of Paris skincare products at London’s first luxury hotel…The Savoy.

An early start

It was a fairly early start at the Savoy from 8:30am, which meant getting up at 4:30am. The awful wet weather and London traffic combined would mean it was a slow three hour journey to the Savoy. I had aimed to arrive at 7:30am but got there at 8:30am!.

The crew were a very friendly group and the car was warmly welcomed by the crew as well as other guests coming and going from the hotel, many images were taken on mobile phones. This was not an ordinary Kent wedding car day.

Awful weather

Due to the awful weather I had to completely clean the car. During this time the crew set up the lights and the models got changed ready to be photographed.

I stood for about five hours from when I first arrived to when we all had lunch. As it was the Savoy I decided to have my lunch in the Beaufort cocktail bar (as the Savoy grill was full up). Apparently the last recent big name to be filmed in the cocktail bar was Taylor Swift for Vanity Fair, so I thought if it’s good enough for Taylor Swift it’s good enough for me! Needless to say both lunch and service were excellent. The Beaufort cocktail bar is both beautiful and relaxing, and is of course in the same art deco style as the rest of the hotel.

The art deco exterior of the Savoy is often used for photographic shoots and over the years many well known films have also been filmed both inside and outside of the hotel.

The Savoy was London’s first Luxury hotel, and featured full electric lighting and lifts, very impressive when it opened in August 1889. Since opening it has continued to attract many VIPs’ and celebrities.