A four-hectare park runs down to the shore of Lake Geneva at Ouchy, with the Savoy Alps across the water, and in it stands Beau-Rivage Palace, the grand hotel of Lausanne. Opened in 1861 and extended in 1908, it is one of the Swiss palace hotels that defined the type, and a house where twentieth-century diplomacy was conducted in the salons.
History
The Beau-Rivage opened in 1861, when Ouchy was a fishing harbour below the city and English and Russian travellers were beginning to winter on the lake. Its success led to the building of a second, larger wing, the Palace, completed in 1908 to designs by the Lausanne architect Eugène Jost, and the two were joined under the name Beau-Rivage Palace. On 18 October 1912 Italy and the Ottoman Empire signed the first Treaty of Lausanne, also called the Treaty of Ouchy, in the hotel, ending their war over Libya. A decade later the conference that produced the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, which settled the borders of modern Turkey, held many of its sessions and negotiations at the Beau-Rivage, though the treaty itself was signed at the Palais de Rumine in the city.
The hotel has been owned since 1990s ownership changes by the Sandoz Family Foundation, which has invested in successive restorations, and it is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national significance.
Architecture and design
The 1861 building is a classical lakeside hotel of five storeys; the 1908 Palace wing is larger and more ornate, in the Belle Époque manner, with a rotunda, a ballroom and the Salle Sandoz whose painted ceiling and columns remain intact. The lobby and corridors keep their stucco, mosaics and wrought iron, and the rooms were renewed in a classic style during the restorations of the 2000s. The park runs down to the lake with mature trees, lawns and the hotel's own stretch of shoreline.
Rooms and suites
The hotel has about 168 rooms and suites across both buildings, most facing the lake and the mountains. The largest suites occupy the corners of the Palace wing.
Dining
Anne-Sophie Pic au Beau-Rivage Palace, the restaurant the French chef opened in the hotel in 2009, holds two Michelin stars and is the house's gastronomic table. The Café Beau-Rivage serves a brasserie menu on the terrace, and further restaurants and bars, four venues in all, cover Japanese cooking and the lakeside in summer.
Wellness
The spa has indoor and outdoor pools, saunas and treatment rooms, with a tennis court and a gym in the park.
Weddings and events
The Salle Sandoz, the rotunda and a suite of meeting rooms serve weddings, galas and conferences, and the park and terraces are used for ceremonies and receptions facing the lake. The hotel's history of hosting international conferences makes it practised at large and sensitive events.
Location
The hotel is at Chemin de Beau-Rivage 21 in Ouchy, on the lakeshore below the centre of Lausanne, with the Ouchy metro station a few minutes away on foot and the city centre six minutes up the M2 line. Train or car, Geneva Airport takes about 45 minutes, and Lausanne station is reached by metro in a few minutes. For a luxury hotel in Lausanne on the lake, it is the one to name first.
At a glance
What sets it apart
- 01Opened in 1861 at Ouchy; Palace wing by Eugène Jost completed in 1908
- 02First Treaty of Lausanne signed in the hotel on 18 October 1912
- 03Negotiations of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne held in its salons
- 04Four-hectare park on the shore of Lake Geneva
- 05Restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic au Beau-Rivage Palace, two Michelin stars
Chronology
Dates that matter
1861
The Beau-Rivage opens on the lakeshore at Ouchy.
1908
The Palace wing by Eugène Jost is completed.
1912
Italy and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Lausanne at the hotel.
1923
Negotiations of the second Treaty of Lausanne are held at the hotel.
2009
Anne-Sophie Pic opens her restaurant at the hotel.
