Savoy Hotel fittings to be auctioned

LONDON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The public will have the opportunity to bid on the fittings of the landmark Savoy Hotel in London as it closes for a 16-month renovation.

About 3,000 items are to be sold next week, the BBC reported. They include beds, chandeliers, pieces of an oak dance floor, china and an elaborate bureau from the suite where French impressionist artist Claude Monet once stayed.

The auction is expected to bring in 600,000 to 1 million pounds ($1.2 million to $2 million), a tiny fraction of the $200 million to be spent on renovations.

The Savoy was built in 1889 by Richard D'Oyly Carte, owner of the Savoy Theater, where the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas opened. In the 1930s, the hotel was redone in an Art Deco style.

The hotel's guest list includes Winston Churchill, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Monet and American artist James Whistler both painted views of the Thames from their rooms, and actor Richard Harris made the hotel his home when he was in London.

The Savoy is scheduled to reopen in 2009.