Not just symmetry but careful choice of materials - here the fire hose enclosure looks like an abstract painting

Fortunately this convergence has not happened in the design of the bedrooms, where the standards at the Savoy are far superior to those across the pond. However again the simplicity of approach has echoes, and the planning of the bedroom is lifted by the handling of colour and fabrics, creating a clean modern feel without any compromise on comfort.

The bedrooms are generous in the provision of walk-in wardrobe-cum-dressing rooms, all with their safes and minibars, ample hanging rails and plenty of drawer space. Desks are a good size for working on, comfortably holding notebooks and all the electrical gear one tends to travel with on business.

The designer has kept the shutters in addition to the curtains, and when closed, the combination with the double glazing provides both a complete blackout and almost total silence. All hotel bedrooms should provide this kind of control of light and sound, most rarely do. It also adds a frisson of pleasure when you throw open the shutters in the morning to the bustle of the piazza beyond, and must be even more pleasurable in the summer. The air conditioning is almost silent and given that most rooms have very high ceilings, surprisingly effective.

Simple and sophisticated - linen sheets,choice of pillow types, all the expected choices available in the most important piece of hotel furniture (rollover for more) My personal preference is for the rollover colouring - but also for a separate shower

At the bedhead there are not only the normal lighting controls (including the one that turns off all the lights) but the switches for the door panel that illuminates outside the bedroom door to ensure that you are not disturbed. There are ‘Do Not Disturb’ cards as well for the traditionalists, but here the electronic locking system has been extended to provide a maid call/privacy panel. The door lock is in the wall rather than the door, resulting in the improvement of the door appearance. As the key card operates the lighting circuits, it has a delay built in, so that as one leaves a room the light stay on, turning off after a thirty second delay.

The sophistication of thought given to a simple electrical wiring circuit, and the way in which it works for the guest are in marked contrast to the experience of other hotels. From my design experience I know that the switching of lights from bedhead and doorway has been an integrated solution allowing the guest to turn everything on or off from either position for over twenty years. It is mostly welcome, although I did hear one American complain about being shocked by all the light when he hit the light switch at the doorway to his room. Here this has been extended thoughtfully just a little further through the key card system - incidentally a system that makes energy saving simple for the hotel, as no light can be left on.

This sophistication also extends to the decoration where colours are subtly modulated grey greens and off whites. Flooring is oak parquet, the whole effect being subdued and sophisticated. Artwork is quirky and humorous throughout the hotel, and the bedrooms are part of this. In one suite a series of erotically charged nineteenth century etchings being used in the bedroom, in others the shoe theme is continued with Warhol prints – very apposite given the plethora of up market shoe shops around the hotel.