London’s famous Savoy is back in business thanks in part to the team at Abels who spent nine months refurbishing the majority of the bedrooms at the prestigious hotel.
It was a major logistics project for Abels. The Savoy is a labyrinth and the team had to manoeuvre furniture through a working building site, down narrow corridors still wet with plaster, to newly-painted and carpeted rooms.
And getting most of the furniture and bedding actually into the building was a challenge. Much of it was hoisted up the outside of the hotel and through windows.
Outside the Abels team wore builders’ boots, hard hats, and goggles. Once inside they had to change into covered shoes and white gloves to move everything from light fittings to solid oak headboards.
Abels have been fitting out hotels for 15 years for clients including Travel Lodge, Premier Inns, Holiday Inns, Hilton and Marriott. However, the three-year refurbishment at the Savoy was a little special.
John Watson, had been negotiating over the project for four years, “We started by helping refit some of the sample rooms that were being put together by the interior designers. It was a difficult job as the hotel was still open and we had to move things without the guests being aware,” said John who worked on some of the job himself to
get the true measure of what was actually involved.
When the three-year-long refurbishment was in full swing the Abels team worked against the clock and around construction workers, electricians, plumbers and architects.
