Interesting Holiday Shopping

If you're going to be in London on December 18th-20th, and want to knock out some of your holiday shopping...you should drop by the Savoy Hotel, where, apparently, everything must go.

The Savoy Sale, to be conducted by Bonhams, will feature stylish items of furniture with impeccable provenance at affordable prices. The furniture to be sold, which includes lighting, mirrors, works of art, and silver plate, will all be offered at “no reserve”, which means that items could go for as little as £20. However, some of the more important furnishings are expected to fetch in excess of £15,000.

Bonhams’ Director of The Savoy Sale, Harvey Cammell, says: “The auction presents everyone around the world with a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to acquire an extraordinary range of iconic items from one of the most famous hotels in the world.”

The three-day sale is expected to fetch in excess of £1 million. The majority of lots consist of furnishings from 215 bedrooms and suites, including the famous Monet Suite, as well as The Royal Opera House Suite and The Richard Harris Suite, in which the famous actor lived for a while. In addition, selected items from The Savoy Hotel’s public areas including The Lobby, The Upper Thames Foyer, The Thames Foyer, The Beaufort Room, The River Restaurant, The Manhattan and Parlour Bars and The Abraham Lincoln Room will be auctioned.{...}

They've shut the hotel down for the next year to rehab it. Given the current state of design style and taste that's happening in London right now, God only knows what it will look like when it's done. If you fancy yourself a preserver of style and taste and all things decorous, you might want to pop by and pick some stuff up.

Besides, there aren't any reserves. You could, conceivably, get something on the cheap. Which is more than I can say about actually paying to stay at the Savoy, which is anything but.