Page 73 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

1946-76: THE GLORIOUS HOTEL BUSINESS a complete bathroom suite for each bedroom. This is not always easy to different nationalities represented by our clientele – in other words, about The goals of this strategy are clearly identified. Thanks to
The thirty years that followed the end of the Second World provide in old buildings. During a journey made entirely abroad, our 30 per cent Americans, 30 per cent French and the rest divided between market research carried out by Walter Schnyder, the Beau-Rivage
War were characterised by an economic ‘belle époque’ that was manager was surprised by the overwhelming luxury of hotels in Germany, the other countries, with England in first place – has been very wise. It Palace was able to distinguish early on the forms and profiles of
rather more prosaically referred to as ‘les trente glorieuses’ – ‘the for example, all totally rebuilt and equipped with all the latest refinements. has been possible to apply it by refusing rooms to visiting Americans in new client constituencies. No longer profiling guests according to
thirty glorious years’. During this period, the industrialised countries It is, it has to be said, a rather ostentatious style of luxury that we must March for July and August, even though we still had available rooms, origin, the research now showed ‘where to cast the nets for a good catch,
experienced unprecedented prosperity, and the Beau-Rivage not think to copy in all its details.’ 31 given that our regular French clients are not in the habit of making their i.e. among businessmen (gatherings of small groups composed of company
Palace took full advantage of this boom. It is a small step from With the help of the Marshall Plan, hotel reconstructions reservations so far in advance.’ 33 managers for meetings, extended seminars, board meetings, etc.) who are more
the thirty glorious years to the glorious hotel business, as can be reproduced American trends to the point of saturation. Schnyder’s concern was, in fact, to maintain a balance between likely to fill the hotel in the “off-peak season” than “traditional tourists”’.
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seen from the exponential increase in occupancy and turnover While we have seen the prudence of the Beau-Rivage the stable and regular clientele and the type of guests who were While not being entirely new, this client group demanded specific
(table 1). But this renewed impetus came from an even greater Palace in the face of a profusion of luxury, it was shaken by in a hurry to arrive and in just as much of a hurry to leave: ‘At standards, not just in terms of comfort and privacy (rooms and
transformation that affected travel in general. Boosted by the arrival the arrival of this wealthy and demanding clientele. These new Beau-Rivage we have two types of clients. In the high season, there’s the conference rooms), but also in terms of easy access to means of
of new forms and means of travel with the growth of private cars expectations pushed the hotel to re-embark on substantial mass of tourists who move quickly from one hotel to another. During the transport and modern communications. It turned the hotel into
and commercial aviation, the rise in living standards among social investment programmes and to give the buildings a more modern rest of the year, we have what we could call our family clientele. These a central location for business meetings and represented a huge
classes who could now afford to stay in establishments whose appearance. ‘During the war, even though we carried out a great deal of are our regulars who, from one generation to another […] return more or potential that would take the form of conventions.
doors would have been closed to their parents also gave the hotel maintenance and improvement work, we were restricted by our financial less regularly to spend a few weeks, a few months at Beau-Rivage. These During the 1960s, Walter Schnyder’s dual strategy came
industry a new stimulus. While the generations of hoteliers who circumstances. We now need to build up some of our linen, porcelain and families cherish the memory of parents born at Beau-Rivage, or married into its own by making the Beau-Rivage Palace a hotel geared
between 1914 and 1945 had witnessed the two world wars and glassware stocks again, as these were all goods that were unobtainable here, and they come back to us saying, “It feels like a home from home”. to a clientele that was diversified, but gauged according to very
the economic slumps had lost any illusion of a return to a belle during the hostilities.’ 32 We want to offer this clientele a completely luxurious experience in the best precise criteria. In 1961, this diversification translated into the
époque in the face of the brutality of the wars, those who lived From 1955, a new energy was found. The revamping of tradition of our hotel. It is necessary to provide total comfort, tranquillity following spread of guests: regular year-round clients (8 per
through the post-war boom experienced some glorious moments the facades heralded a vast series of interior works involving and an impeccable service performed by staff who are themselves attached cent), regular seasonal clients (40 per cent), new individual
during a period of meteoric expansion. the enlargement of the garage, fitting the fourth floor with to the hotel. It is to this end that we must devote all our efforts, eschewing clients (20 per cent) and clients through travel agencies (32 per
For many, the new milestones were associated with the bathrooms, converting the heating system from steam to hot the nocturnal hubbub of the urban luxury hotels.’ 34 cent). The short-term goals were equally well defined. They
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‘American way of life’ which, with the end of the Second World water, installing lifts, relocating access to the goods lift, installing This dual strategy perfectly illustrates how the Beau-Rivage focused on tapping the huge reservoir of sports enthusiasts,
War and the start of the Cold War, increasingly imposed itself rubbish chutes on each floor, improving the service rooms on Palace saw its role and forged its image during those crazy years. who had so far been totally neglected. To this end, top of the
as the main model. The boom in the Swiss hotel industry was each floor, refurbishing the furniture, redesigning the garden and Walter Schnyder described it as a ‘strategy of gradual alignment with list of priorities for 1963 was the building of a swimming pool
determined to a great extent by the influx of American tourists installing new furniture. In 1963, extensive investments were snobbery’. ‘French tradition’ was not challenged by the ‘American to the east of the hotel that could be converted into a curling
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into Western Europe. From 1949, Americans represented the made in kitchen equipment, the laundry, offices, dry cleaning revolution’. But at the same time this stated conservatism had no rink in winter. The neighbours’ objections would delay its
highest percentage of clients, reaching almost 30 per cent. These and mechanics’ and artisans’ workshops that made it possible to intention of ignoring the powerful trends that were restructuring construction, but the trend had definitely been set. Whether
clients subscribed to the most daring forms of travel and were cater for the increased number of guests. the hotel landscape. The 1960s brought changes to which the leisure or business, year-round residents or passing tourists, the
avid consumers of landscapes and sights: ‘The families arrive by Does this mean there was an ‘Americanisation’ of the Beau- Beau-Rivage Palace was very attentive: ‘We need to be aware that Beau-Rivage Palace enhanced its versatility to keep pace with
car, the car stays in the hotel courtyard, they stay two or three days Rivage Palace? That would be an exaggeration. The hotel’s modern tourism is subject to very different influences, snobbery, sports, and the social, economic and symbolic aspirations that came out of
and then they set off again in search of more thrills.’ This liberated, management denied it and even went so far as to impose a quota improved means of transport that have opened up countries that until the post-war boom.
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uninhibited type of travel was of prime importance to the hotel’s that was not to be exceeded – as the newly appointed manager, now were less easily accessible. Greece, Yugoslavia and the Orient are now It could easily be concluded that this ‘glorious’ era generated
management. From now it would set the tone and imprint its Walter Schnyder, who had spent a part of his career in the United very much in vogue. These conditions mean that the manager of a grand great desire. As far as tourism was concerned, it stimulated
style on the hotel: ‘It is generally the Americans who are […] the most States, reminded the chairman of the board of directors: ‘I believe hotel must keep his finger on the pulse of this tourism and then adapt initiatives and honed ambitions. Beau-Rivage was conscious
particular as far as the bathroom is concerned. They normally demand that the new method that we have applied, that is to say balancing out the quite quickly to events.’ 36 of the Ouchy site’s vast potential. In agreeing to lease the

Beau-Rivage-Palace prices, Ouchy-Lausanne, 1921.

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