The Savoy Hotel

Savoy hotel in Mussoorie is one hotel which had the privilege of being association with Shri Nathji more than any other hotel. So many of Shri Nathji’s functions were held in this hotel and later by HH Shri Priya Nathji. Also Shri Nathji was given parking for his two cars free of cost for some time at the hotel premises by it’s owner Captain Kripa Ram. The photo on top is of Shri Nathji at Savoy Hotel in 1944.
Cecil D. Lincoln, the Irishman who was a barrister in Lucknow, acquired the estate of “Rev. Maddock’s Mussoorie School” around 1895. He built the Savoy during the next five years, after razing the school to ground. As the road up from Dehradun wasn't ready yet, massive amount of Edwardian furniture, grand pianos, billiard-tables, barrels of cider, crates of champagne and other materials were all carried uphill by bullock cart, this also included the oak pieces that were later joined to make its dining hall floor that is renowned for its size.
The Savoy was opened in 1902. It rivaled The Cecil at Shimla and The Carlton at Lucknow. It soon became popular amongst the British upper echelons of the Raj, such as the civil servants and military officers who wanted to avoid the stiff official environment of Simla, the summer capital. It became the 'pleasure capital' of the Raj. In March 1906, the Princess of Wales (later Queen Mary) stayed here and attended a garden party on the Savoy grounds, the place is known as the Beer Garden. Soon after her departure, the town was hit by an earthquake, and many buildings were flattened, the hotel also experienced great damage. After being closed for a year, the hotel was reopened in 1907after repairs. Before electricity came to Mussoorie, the hotel used chandeliers with candles and spirit lamps. Electricity reached Mussoorie in 1909, adding to the convenience of its guests. It was, however, after World War I that the hotel saw its heydays, with orchestra and lavish parties becoming the order of the day. The ballroom of the Savoy was an architectural marvel. A large hall, with a balcony running right around it, it was hung with taper lit chandeliers. In 1907, the tapers were replaced with electric bulbs. The Savoy orchestra played every night and the ballroom was full of waltzing couples. This Ball Room Dancing carried on till the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s along with the regular Miss Mussoorie and Weston Queen contest. The Bougainvilleas at the Savoy gardens were very famous. In this Image we can see the rich woodwork of the hotel from the inside.

Wealthy princes occupied entire wings with their retinues, as did various rulers like the Kings of Nepal, Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, the Crown Prince of Laos, also important personalities like Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck and many Prime ministers of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stayed here, as Prime Minister of India in 1959, he addressed the Travel Agents Association of India, at the hotel. After independence, the Dalai Lama gave a public audience every Thursday, at the hotel during his temporary residence at Mussoorie following his exile from Tibet, in 1959. So has been the grandeur of the Savoy Hotel. There was a time, till the early 1980s at least, when the most prestigious address for a visitor to this hill station was “The Savoy”.
Savoy was run by the Italian hoteliers, Messrs Viglietta and Palazzi, who also ran the Carlton at Lucknow, and later leased the Majestic Hotel in Bombay. In 1946 it was purchased by Captain Kripa Ram Johar who managed it for many year. His Son Anand Jauhar sold the hotel to a Kanpur-based company, in 2005. Thus it went to R P Singh, a Kanpur-based industrialist. In July 2009, it was acquired by India's second largest hotel chain, ITC Welcomgroup Hotels, Palaces and Resorts’s wholly owned subsidiary Fortune Hotels from Hotels Control Pvt Ltd, its previous owners. Presently the hotel is under restoration, by the famed architect Sarbjit Singh of Fab Interiors and 50 rooms are expected to be operational by the end of 2010, along with the Writer's Bar, a restaurant and banqueting facilities. The plan is to completely retain its outer structure. We eagerly await the opening of the Savoy, with its traditional old charm restored.