An archive Liberty print on the Front Hall tree and hot air balloons rising through the hotel bring Around the World in 80 Days to The Savoy this Christmas.
The Christmas tree in the Front Hall at The Savoy belongs to Liberty this year. From 16 November the 14-foot tree wears botanical shapes from Adelphi Voyage, a print in Liberty’s archive, in burgundy and deep emerald green. Around it, Belinda Bowles, the hotel’s creative floral design manager, sends hot air balloons up through the hall.
Liberty’s tree in the Front Hall
The hotel’s season takes Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days as its theme, with Champagne Laurent-Perrier as its partner. Bowles’s balloons appear to rise through the Front Hall and on into the hotel, and the decorated rooms lead on to the Gallery.
Outside, the forecourt becomes a Laurent-Perrier bar styled around a hot air balloon, with deep seating. Mulled wine and hot chocolate are poured beside the Champagne. The hotel opens the bar to Londoners as well as its own guests, so it is the part of the season anyone walking along the Strand can step into.
Afternoon tea in the Gallery
The Gallery serves a limited-edition afternoon tea through the season, with a menu for children as well as adults. Afternoon tea has been part of The Savoy since 1889, and it is now poured under the Gallery’s glass dome, with live piano. A marble catwalk runs down the middle of the room to a bar framed by tall palms. Its 1912 murals once showed the couple behind the world’s first dinner dance, and they now run along the walls as silhouettes.
On Christmas Day the Gallery serves four courses with all the trimmings, and on New Year’s Eve five, built on British ingredients. The hotel’s own New Year’s Eve Gala takes the golden age of Hollywood and the 1950s circus as its theme. It starts with a Champagne reception and canapés, runs to five courses and live entertainment, and ends with a Champagne toast at 00:00 against London’s fireworks.
Liberty print in the bedrooms
A Liberty pop-up opened at The Florist at The Savoy in early October, with silk scarves, ties, umbrellas, handbags and fragrance in the store’s prints. From late October, all 263 bedrooms and suites carry a hand wash, shower gel and hand and body lotion made for the hotel by LBTY Beauty. The Florist sells them as well.
Their scent is Adelphi Sun, Liberty’s bestselling fragrance, with green notes and citrus drawn from a print of a paisley rainforest of palms, leaves and ferns. The hotel made the collection to mark the end of its three-year renovation, which it expects to complete in March 2027. Guests this winter stay in the newly refurbished Art Deco and Edwardian rooms.
The Liberty tree, the balloon installation and the forecourt bar from 16 November 2026. Afternoon tea in the Gallery daily from 12:00 to 18:45.
The Savoy, Strand, London WC2R 0EZ.
Discover more at thesavoylondon.com