View of 96-103 Strand, (south side) and Savoy Court, City of Westminster. A major thoroughfare, the Strand runs east to west from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar. Named from the Old English 'strond', meaning the edge of a river, as before modern embankments and land reclamation it ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. The seven-storey building with attics and a corner turret was built as an extension of the Savoy Hotel in 1903-04 by T. E. Collcutt. Faced with Doulton's Carrara Ware terracotta, there are ground-floor shop fronts, and the entrance to Simpson's Restaurant with a canopy. Number 100, Simpsons, started in 1828 as a smoking room and soon afterwards as a coffee house. In 1850 it achieved fame for its traditional English food, particularly roast meats, and also as the most important venue in Britain for chess in the nineteenth century. Chess ceased to be a feature after Simpson's was bought by the Savoy Hotel group of companies at the end of the century, but it remained as a purveyor of traditional English food. Number 89 is 'Chinacraft'. Number 96-97, on the corner with Savoy Court, is a National Westminster Bank. It has a canopy running along the length of Savoy Court. The block is Grade II listed, number 1236740. Savoy Court is the entrance to the Savoy Hotel and is the only road in the United Kingdom when cars drive on the right side of the road, as it facilitates taxis dropping off customers at the hotel entrance. The hotel was built between 1886-89 by T. E. Collcutt with A. H. Mackmurdo as interior consultant for Richard D'Oyly Carte. D'Oyly Carte planned his hotel on the latest American model, and exceptionally for its time, bathrooms were provided as well as hydraulic lifts and electric light throughout. It was the brilliant management of Cesar Ritz combined with the talents of the great chef Escoffier that ensured the Savoy's success. The building is Grade II listed, number 1236709.