The Savoy Hotel

While the Savoy Hotel has recently been refurbished, we tend to forget how much it is woven into London history; it was the first luxury hotel in the city. Here's and extract from a potted history:

The Savoy .... was also the first to be lit by electricity. It had the first electric lifts, known as ‘ascending rooms’. Guest rooms were connected by speaking tube to the valet, maid and floor waiter and to other parts of the hotel. The Savoy later became the first hotel to provide most of its rooms with private bathrooms en suite.

It's also worth mentioning that the amazingly tight turning circle of the London cab was defined so that it could turn in the narrow space by the entrance.