DOCUMENTATIONS

 
Elegant promenade in front of the Mount Nelson Hotel in south Africa’s Cape Town around 1910.
More about the Mount Nelson.

Rome’s Excelsior. The lobby has been preserved until today and remains the vital revolving point of the Roman and international societey. More about our book Excelsior Rome.

Queen Elisabeth II visited Aden in 1954 and stayed at the Crescent hotel. She was supposed to have brought a piano and various other equipment with her which the staff and management of the hotel seem to have misplaced (no one could figure out where it was, although some were quite sure that they had it laying around somewhere).
Go to the hotel’s page

Welcome ever smiles*

(*Troilus and Cressida, William Shakespoear, 1602) 

Receiving an important guest at the turn of the century was the occasion for a full dress ceremony involving a whole army of staff. More often than not the guests arrived by rail. The hotel had to telephone to check up on the times of trains. If a delay occurred the full compliment of management and staff had to remain waiting whatever the hour. Carriages equal to the number of guests were sent off to the station each one with a page boy who had to be on the platform to meet the guest. Countless and cumbersome pieces of luggage (forty items per couple was common) were taken up to the hotel in a separate vehicle. The average stay in one of these palaces was at least 50 days and often a month. Gentleman were often accompanied by their valet, even their secretary and ladies by their maid, while the chauffeur would join them with the car.
The doorman would keep a lookout for arrivals and ring the bell as soon as he saw them, to warn the manager and head-porter to be ready.
After the customary welcome, the head-porter would then see the guests to their rooms.

In 1900, the new Grand Hôtel de Pékin opened for business in China. The new hotel, so it was feared, symbolized the intrusion of the West in China and could become a target for the rebels. Therefore the Swiss manager, Mr Chamot, asked his guests to vacate the hotel and offered to lodge them in a pavilion belonging to the British legion. Until the arrival of the international expeditionary force, Chamot did everything he could to make them comfortable. As food provisions were difficult, his chef, showing great imagination, served them pony and horse meat under many guises. Go to the hotel’s page.

RITZ, PARIS, FRANCE

At the Ritz Bar: E. Berry Wall, best-dressed American in Europe and Ritz’ legendary barkeeper Frank Meier (Frank of the Ritz). Download his cocktailbook from the Ritz page.

 HÔTEL DES TROIS COURONNES, VEVEY, SWITZERLAND

The Swiss lake Geneva and the city of Vevey’s charming hotel: US author Henry James wrote Daisy Miller here during his 1878 stay.

MENA HOUS, GIZA (CAIRO) EGYPT

1972: M S Oberoi (left) meets president Sadat of Egypt (right) at the Mena House hotel. For both men the hotel was an object of prestige. Nasser needed a huge convention centre with a world class hotel attached to it. For Oberoi, Mena House was like the old Grand in Calcutta: a gem. He would make Mena House a landmark in restoration. A substantial sum would have to be spent to restore the hotel. Oberoi could not pitch in with any capital, but guaranteed a six per cent return on investment to the owning company Upper-Egypt Hotel Company and EGOTH – The Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels.

HOTEL BILDERBERG, OOSTERBEEK, NETHERLANDS
 

Made famous by its regular meetings: The Bilderberg

GRAND HOTEL GIESSBACHSurrounded by mountains, forest and meadows, offering a breathtaking view on the unspoilt scenery of lake Brienz, Giessbach is a flowered oasis far away from every-day stress and from the nuisances of our time.

THE CHOSUN HOTEL (WESTIN), SEOUL, KOREA

Palmcourt at the Chosun Hotel, Seoul, Korea

BEAU RIVAGE, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Since its opening on 13. April 1865, the Beau Rivage is one of the most important meeting places in a city that stands as a synonym for international realtions: Geneva.

The Railway Hotel in Hua Hin, ca. 1927 (Thailand)

GRAND NATIONAL, LUCERNE, SWITZERLANDMaximilian Alphons Von Pfyffer Von Altishofen was man with a vision, but without experience to run a hotel. Reason enough to pick the young and talented Cesar Ritz to run the show.

PARKHOTEL VITZNAU, SWITZERLAND

Vitznau around 1900 - one of the most idyllic settings in Europe is the home of Parkhotel Vitznau, opened in 1903.

AROSA KULM & ALPINE SPA

Prince Bhumibol, the future King of Thailand, spending his winter holiday at Arosa Kulm Hotel, in Arosa, Switzerland.

* The adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. It also aptly characterizes the goals of visualization where large amounts of data must be absorbed quickly.

It is believed that the modern use of the phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in the advertising trade journal Printers’ Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars.^[1] The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, “One Look is Worth A Thousand Words.”

Another ad by Barnard appears in the March 10, 1927 issue with the phrase “One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words,” where it is labeled a Chinese proverb (畫意能達萬言). The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases quotes Barnard as saying he called it “a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously.” Soon after, the proverb would become popularly attributed to Confucius.