Page 62 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

BEAU-RIVAGE PALACE: world wars and the slumps of the 1920s and 30s – which, each in were rushing to the beaches and lakes and taking to the roads in
major events of the first half of the twentieth century – the two
a frenetic desire for travel that was a heady mix of discovery of
ITS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION its own way, challenged the luxury hotel model. The end of the the unknown, the search for health cures, intellectual curiosity
and emotional compulsion. The construction of the Hôtel des
1861-1976 Second World War marked the beginning of a third period that Bergues in 1834 by Guillaume-Henri Dufour, modelled on the
culminated in 1976 – the year that marked the end of the post-
war economic boom – and which, conversely, testified to the grand Hôtel Meurice in Paris, illustrates this early awareness.
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strength of the model, making the luxury hotel an economically Furthermore the equally great determination of the Montreux-
viable, socially gratifying and symbolically enhancing place. Vevey region ‘which each year sees a great throng of foreigners settling
there, and making a great deal of money there’ indicates that ambitions
1861-1908: FROM SUMPTUOUSNESS TO SELF-DOUBT were already fuelled close to the Vaud capital.
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The Beau-Rivage was founded on a commercial objective Building a hotel in Ouchy meant outperforming these
that brought together people with business acumen and the desire very energetic competitors; it meant doing things better. It
Laurent TISSOT
to succeed. It was a pervasive attitude in the mid-nineteenth century, was not a case of simply erecting a building, but taking on an
The development of luxury hotels is part of a sweeping cannot always be precisely defined. But recounting its 150-year when the power of liberalism as a way of life was beginning to entire environment. It meant contributing to its ‘embellishment’,
economic, social and symbolic movement. The spaces that history makes it possible to give a voice to the less prominent be understood and applied as a means of development. Lausanne a fashionable term that served to indicate the reorganisation
host them and the clients who stay in them take on a powerful and less visible actors, from the kitchens to the hotel corridors, was able to rely on some committed families, business circles and that was felt necessary for Ouchy’s port, lake shore and town
significance. On the economic front, the construction of these whose particular professions and know-how make the running acquaintances capable of getting things off the ground. Albeit not square before a hotel establishment, however luxurious it might
hotels has coincided with the emergence of a local and regional of the hotel possible. Recounting its 150-year history means, the epitome of the system we term ‘capitalism’, these groups had be, could have the least chance of success. From this point of view,
elite class, capable of realising ambitious projects requiring massive therefore, recounting the history of an enterprise that leaves a a great number of assets just waiting to be put to use. Bankers, the choice of location is not a secondary consideration. It is the
human and financial resources. Socially, the existence of such lasting imprint on our societies at many different levels. lawyers, merchants, industrialists, notaries, engineers, landowners, decisive factor because, apart from the hotel’s primary function
hotels embodies the core values of societies where recognition is Due to limited archive access, this article confines itself people with private means – between them they had the social, – offering accommodation and food – it highlights the aspects
based on hierarchies combining ownership, power and knowledge. mainly to the first hundred years, in other words from the economic, symbolic and political capital to guarantee them, if behind its construction: pleasing a public whose sensibilities are
Symbolically, their impact creates images necessary for unifying opening of the hotel in 1891 to 1976, a year that marks a natural not certain success, then at least an achievement worthy of their driven by (pre-) romantic fads in need of an opportunity for
populations seeking signs of endorsement and trying to create a break, due to the economic crisis that occurred at that time. Over ambition. Moreover, Lausanne’s geographical location and the expression. In the case of the Beau-Rivage, that is why it was
coherent vision of the world to which they belong. this period, the hotel’s history can be divided into three main site’s historical reputation were advantages, as were the arrival of important that the founding company took the name of Société
The Beau-Rivage Palace fits perfectly within this framework phases. These are defined as much by the strategic development the railway and the reorganisation of lake traffic. The instigators’ Immobilière d’Ouchy. It was this company that undertook to
that enables us to understand why it was built and how it has concerns that preoccupied the administrators of the day as by the local strength would leave a lasting stamp on the establishment, give credibility to the three founding pillars of this astonishing
survived to achieve a success that continues to earn it worldwide political and economical issues that marked history in general. since both its management structure and its shareholder base intangible economy that was gradually establishing itself at the
renown. It is part of a groundswell that began in the late eighteenth To a broad extent, these concerns overrode all other factors – would be drawn, deliberately and for the whole of its history, lower end of Lausanne: a lake, some mountains, a hotel.
century, affecting the whole of Europe and North America no matter who the illustrious guests, devoted administrators or from Lausanne or Vaud circles. These strong local roots contrast We shall not dwell here on the technical and architectural
before extending to South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. In simple employees were. sharply with the international dimension quickly acquired by the aspects of the construction that fulfilled these requirements, which
other words, while the scale of the edifice is equalled only by the The first identifiable period was from the opening of the Beau-Rivage and of which it has always been proud. are discussed elsewhere in the book. But a simple analysis shows
prestige with which its administrators attempt to imbue it, the Beau-Rivage in 1861 to the beginning of the twentieth century, Even so, building a big hotel at Ouchy was certainly no easy that the Beau-Rivage did not capitalise on them to a point where
Beau-Rivage Palace is not unique; it is in a league where there are when the enterprise’s brilliant beginnings were beset by the task, for it entailed a number of risks. For about twenty years it became an essential port of call for the aristocratic elite and
large numbers of major players. Recounting its 150-year history question of its long-term prospects. The construction of the second Geneva had shown all the signs of being the city chosen to host European middle classes in pursuit of a welcome that combined
involves identifying the reciprocal influences whose contours building in 1908 saw the start of a new period that spanned the the crowds that – now that the Napoleonic Wars had ended – all the criteria of comfort, tranquillity, affluence and wellbeing

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