Page 117 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

Fig. 1

MAKING HISTORY: LUXURY HOTELS exceptional events. The Beau-Rivage Palace was one of the select possibilities and limitations. To grasp this, we need to look closely
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few, having hosted a number of diplomatic peace talks: in 1912, at the event itself and its specific historical context: the diplomatic
AND DIPLOMACY. THE BEAU-RIVAGE PALACE it was here that a treaty between Italy and Turkey was agreed; manoeuvring which followed the First World War, marked by the

AND THE CONFERENCE OF LAUSANNE, both countries returned to Lausanne ten years later to participate successive revisions to the Treaty of Versailles; the critical state of
the hotel industry after the collapse of luxury tourism, which
in the negotiations which concluded on 24 July 1923 with an
1922-23 agreement between Turkey and the Allied nations. There followed brought about a financial crisis and, most crucially, an image
the international conference on Germany’s war reparations (June-
crisis; and the changing face of international diplomacy with the
July 1932) and the Conventions on Palestine (1949) and Libya emergence of the ‘new diplomacy’, whose aim was to create a new
(1984), to name only the most important events. world order founded on new principles of conflict prevention
and resolution. Understanding the relationship between the
LUXURY HOTELS, DIPLOMACY AND HISTORIC EVENTS hotel industry and the diplomatic world thus entails exploring
The frequency of these events would seem to indicate a two interrelated histories by focusing on the unusual event that
Bertrand MÜLLER
‘special relationship’ between the hotel industry and the diplomatic constitutes a diplomatic conference.
There are some hotels on the continent which, in addition grand hotels were social microcosms where the privileged few world, a relationship regularly emphasised in the brochures and The 1922-23 Conference of Lausanne is a specific example
to being renowned luxury holiday establishments, also have a would come to rest, convalesce and, increasingly (in Lausanne and promotional literature of the Beau-Rivage Palace as one of its of an ‘event’ which brought together these different dimensions.
reputation for hosting historic diplomatic conferences. This is elsewhere), use the spa facilities, all far from the madding crowd. defining elements. The link between hotels and diplomacy is The peace talks, attended by some ten countries, opened on 20
notably the case for the Hôtel des Indes in The Hague, and the Although they rubbed shoulders with each other, the great and the tenuous, none the less: after all, conferences have not always taken November 1922 and continued for almost eight months. The
Hôtel des Reservoirs at Versailles. The Beau-Rivage Palace in good were able to escape the rest of the world, while maintaining place in hotels. The hotel industry and the diplomatic world tend Beau-Rivage Palace had already presided over the signing of
Ouchy-Lausanne is another example. their luxurious lifestyles or preferred pastimes. Members of the to meet only under exceptional circumstances; this is particularly a peace treaty in 1912, between Italy and Turkey. The scope of
The Caterer and Hotel-Keeper’s Gazette, 15 February 1923, p. 73 old European monarchies, such as the Prince of Wales (the future true after the First World War, when venues purpose-designed for this event had been much more limited, however: the parties
King George v), the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and the Spanish international diplomacy were increasingly used, such as the Palais used an outmoded form of diplomacy and their negotiations
‘The event illuminates its own past.’ and Portuguese aristocracy, took relaxing breaks in these grand des Nations in Geneva, originally home to the League of Nations had been kept so confidential that the authorities had not taken
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Hannah Arendt hotels, which were oases of calm during difficult periods. and later to the un. The specific role of a hotel also should be any particular measures. The scope and context of the 1922-23
The Nature of Totalitarianism, 1954 The developing hotel industry was largely involved in these clarified, on two counts: on the one hand, the hotel is essentially a conference were entirely different. The Allied powers who had
activities until the First World War, which put an abrupt stop to the residential establishment and not necessarily the main venue for the won the First World War (Great Britain, France and Italy) came to
During its extraordinary period of growth in the nineteenth concept of luxury tourism in Europe in general and Switzerland negotiations, even if certain meetings and events might take place Lausanne hoping to settle the question of the partitioning of the
century, the luxury hotel industry encouraged guests to book for in particular. At the outbreak of war the hotels quickly emptied, in its rooms and private suites; on the other hand, it is equally rare Ottoman Empire to their own mutual advantage, by engineering
extended stays. These holidaymakers liked to indulge in a variety only to see a fraction of their clientele return later as refugees. for only one hotel to be involved in a conference, since countries a peace treaty between Greece and Turkey. Instead, they witnessed
of entertainment-based activities: concerts, balls and tea dances The war forced hotels to take on some rather unexpected, and at war will not always agree to stay under one roof. the birth of a nation. Earlier negotiations, which had resulted in
were arranged for the (very) rich, and often idle, clientele, who sometimes unwanted, duties, such as accommodating refugees or Despite publicity claims which make much of the close links the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, had divided the spoils of the Empire
were kept amused by a retinue of artists, musicians and writers. military personnel. between the hotel industry and the diplomatic world, in reality between Great Britain, France and Italy. The Conference of
The Beau-Rivage Palace also organised these kinds of events: it But a few hotels were assigned other roles, setting them the association is quite circumstantial, or to be more precise, event Lausanne completely nullified the first treaty, particularly on the
even formed its own chamber orchestra (fig. 1). Wealthy local and apart from the competition and enhancing their reputation: they based. We hope to examine some of the aspects of this event-based issue of borders and ‘the minority peoples’, dashing Armenian and
international companies started holding their annual gala evenings were chosen as venues for diplomatic conferences. The fact that connection, because it is not purely due to circumstance: it is the Kurdish hopes for independence.
or anniversary celebrations in the ballrooms of these great palaces, a hotel could count princes and sovereigns among its previous product of the meeting of two universes – the hotel industry’s and Exploring the relationship between the hotel industry and
which began to resemble moored cruise liners lost in time. The guests was no guarantee that it would be picked for these rather the diplomatic world’s – each of which has its own characteristics, the diplomatic world takes us into different areas of research,

The Beau-Rivage Palace Orchestra. Anonymous photograph, c.1930.

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