Page 68 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Château at 5 fr., Campart at 5 fr., Victoria at 5 fr., Grancy Villa at 4 and July only produces a small profit; the winter months produce barely two establishments full and remaining full until the end of the autumn… from 1935 – the belle époque remained the high point they tried
fr. 50 and a number of other houses from 3 to 4 fr. It is therefore not enough profit to cover the wear on the furniture and linen.’ The Société Immobilière d’Ouchy was not mistaken in choosing for the desperately to emulate, but despite all their efforts, the closer they
13
surprising that we do not have any (sic) guests at a cost of 8 fr.50 all Tschumi explored various avenues to solve this problem: style of the fittings the most beautiful, the most comfortable and the most thought they were getting to it, the further it retreated: ‘The days
inclusive for board and lodging with a magnificent room overlooking the the simplest was to close the hotel during the winter season and elegant there is, even at the cost of considerable sacrifices.’ 15 are gone when our hotel was never empty from 1st January to 31st
lake on any floor.’ 11 to dismiss the staff members. But the difficulty of re-hiring them While the shareholders present could only be delighted with December.’ This refrain was repeated year after year.
17
The most obvious sign of this stress was the tense relationship later was a serious obstacle because it was not at all certain that these initial results, the management was hugely relieved: daring as Certainties and uncertainties continued to alternate after the
that developed as a consequence of the construction of the Château they would be the same: ‘something not liked by the regular guests, it had been, the gamble was paying off (fig. 2). Tschumi’s offensive outbreak of the First World War. On the shores of Ouchy, their
d’Ouchy in 1890, which emerged as a very serious competitor. who want to see familiar faces’. 14 strategy had borne fruit. The figures show that this annexe gave intensity redoubled, given tourism’s sensitivity to the slightest
Contact was made with its owner, Jean-Jacques Mercier, with a Another solution that was considered very seriously was business a very strong impetus. There was a real surge: within variations in the economy: ‘The general situation is so abnormal, the
view to leasing it. After a few years of operation, the arrangement that of renting a hotel at Cannes, the Hôtel Californie, with three years, both the turnover and the occupancy rate practically reactions of the public so variable, sometimes so unexpected, that, for an
was terminated in 1896, as the low revenues made it unviable. 12 168 beds, a magnificent view over the sea and the islands, and a doubled. In 1913, the dividend was fixed at 30 per cent! At the industry like ours, we can only live from day to day, exercising prudence
18
All these preoccupations illustrate the complexity of park planted with trees and bushes from hotter climes. Tschumi same time, seen in a broader economic context, the Beau-Rivage and hoping for better tomorrow.’ There were many causes for
managing a hotel on the scale of the Beau-Rivage. While the committed himself wholeheartedly to this initiative, which he (now renamed the Beau-Rivage Palace), was profiting from annoyance: the fluctuations in the exchange rate between Swiss
industrie des étrangers, from the point of view of Switzerland as a saw as an important source of revenue that would fill the gaps of the prosperity, already noticeable at the end of the nineteenth and foreign currencies that proved an obstacle to international
whole, was entering a veritable boom, the management of the the winter season and give the company financial stability. The century, that was being enjoyed by all the industrialised countries. travel, the formalities and complications for foreigners entering
hotel in Lausanne was concerned about its future, given the local lease was presented to the board of directors who, at the last Relations between the Beau-Rivage Palace and the belle époque, Switzerland, the tax requirements, railway fares, etc. Even a
and international constraints. This first period, therefore, saw a moment, refused to commit themselves because they saw too while intense, were very fruitful. The building of the annexe recourse to scientific methods was not enough to form a clear
hotel endowed with undeniable qualities in terms of natural many drawbacks. In the same vein, the Beau-Rivage purchased amplified an effect, but was not the source of it. The decision to picture: ‘We have been attempting for some time to draw some lessons
environment, interior design and services, which all contributed the Château de Renens and the adjoining alkaline spring in 1899, build simply came at the best possible moment (fig. 3). Still, that from the statistics that we carefully build up, and at each attempt the facts
to its first-rate reputation, but which was faced with a fast- reselling them in 1903. And the Élysée property was bought in decision had to be made! Other Lausanne developers would not contradict the expected figures in one direction or another. There are few
changing commercial situation that it was only half able to 1904 and resold the following year. have that chance, because, fundamentally, the reasons why the industries as sensitive as the hotel industry. The slightest rumour from a
16
control. Nonetheless, the Beau-Rivage attempted to respond to The third solution was to enlarge the hotel, and this was decision to build had been taken were still pending. Although the political, health, economic or even simply fashion source makes travellers
these setbacks with original solutions. the one that was ultimately chosen. It was first envisaged as an rise in occupancy was accompanied by a better spread throughout change their plans, and a place that one year was packed is empty the
There is no doubt that with the arrival of Jacques Tschumi at extension of the existing building with the addition of a fifth the year, the winter season did not attract as many guests to the following year.’ 19
the helm of the establishment in 1889, the Beau-Rivage entered floor (fig. 1). Given the small increase in space this would have Beau-Rivage Palace as the summer season. This would continue This ongoing instability can be seen very clearly in the graph
a period of reflection and questioning. His incontestable authority produced, it was eventually decided to construct a new building. to be grounds for complaint (table 2). showing turnover and occupancy (table 1). The ups and downs
was the stimulus for a fundamental discussion on the need for The estimate came to more than 2 million francs. Planned in These figures say a lot about the period of economic echo the general trend in an era affected by sporadic crises: the
a proper corporate strategy, which resulted in the building, in 1903, begun in 1905, suspended in the summer of 1906 due to ebullience prior to the descent into the dark years that were rare periods of great activity: 1919, 1923, 1926-29 and 1936-39
1908, of a second edifice at the side of the one built in 1861. This the builders’ strike, and restarted in 1907, the works were finally to follow. The awareness of a lost paradise constantly hung over fell prey to the First World War, the slump of 1920-22, the further
solution was not immediately obvious. It was the subject of intense completed during the summer of 1908. The new building was the consciousness of the generations who lived through those recession of 1924-25, the 1930s slump and the Second World War.
arguments and even caused rifts within the board of directors. officially opened on 19 June 1908. The final bill amounted to years and who from then on would come up against the harsh These conditions did not encourage the management to embark
At the heart of the whole problem, apart from the more than 3 million francs. realities of the repeated flare-ups of the first half of the twentieth on any large-scale initiatives. They took a reactionary line and
modernisation of a building that was beginning to date, was century. Since they had taken the heyday of the belle époque as adapted their business strategy to the circumstances. Above all,
the uneven spread of guests at the hotel: ‘The hotel’s revenue is 1908-46: BETWEEN CERTAINTY AND UNCERTAINTY their benchmark, they could not help but be disappointed by the prudence acted as the guiding principle. ‘Tourism is not dead;
essentially made in the months of August, September and the first half ‘The hotel Beau-Rivage Palace immediately found favour with foreign results recorded afterwards. For many years, for the two managers people are more restless than ever, but we have to face the evidence that
of October; on average, the revenue from the months of April, May, June travellers and after only a few weeks, we had the satisfaction of seeing our who followed Tschumi – Otto Egli from 1912 and Werner Müller tourists have totally changed their habits. Gone is the time when the

Hôtel Beau-Rivage. Plans to modify the roof, south elevation, west elevation, Ouchy Palace Hôtel, postcard, c.1910.
January 1897. Théophile van Muyden architect. In front of the building was an arcade of shops.

68 69