Hôtel Royal

Edward VII took the waters at Évian, and the Société des Eaux d'Évian built a hotel for him. The Hôtel Royal opened on the hillside above Évian-les-Bains in 1909 with a suite reserved for the king; he died in May 1910 without having stayed in it. The name was kept, and so was the view that was its reason: Lake Geneva below, Lausanne on the opposite shore and the Jura behind.

History

The mineral-water company commissioned the architect Jean-Albert Hébrard to build a hotel worthy of the crowned heads who were coming to Évian for its waters. Hébrard produced a long building of four storeys and a mansard roof, with a rotunda at the centre and 200 rooms, set in a park of 19 hectares with the lake at its feet. The painter Gustave Jaulmes decorated the public rooms with frescoes of the four seasons, and they remain the signature of the house.

The Royal went through the decline common to spa hotels after the Second World War, and its revival came with the Evian Resort, the Danone group's leisure arm, which runs the hotel, its sister the Hôtel Ermitage, the casino and the golf course. A complete renovation of 2014 and 2015, with interiors by François Champsaur, returned the house to the first rank, and Atout France granted it the Palace distinction in 2016.

Architecture and design

Hébrard's building is a Belle Époque palace of the type built on the Riviera and in the Swiss resorts, in pale stone and stucco with iron balconies, and its central rotunda holds the main salon with the Jaulmes frescoes. Champsaur's renovation lightened the interiors with pale wood, linen and lake blues, kept the original parquet and mouldings, and opened the ground-floor rooms to the terraces. The park descends in lawns and old trees towards the lake, with the pool at the lower level.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has 150 rooms and suites after the renovation, which enlarged many of the original rooms. Most face the lake across the park; the rest look up to the mountains. The Royal Suite on the top floor, the one planned for Edward VII, has a terrace running along the facade. Rooms are furnished in Champsaur's scheme of oak, pale fabrics and black-and-white photographs of the lake.

Dining

Les Fresques, the gastronomic restaurant under the Jaulmes paintings, holds a Michelin star. La Véranda serves breakfast and an all-day menu on the terrace facing the lake. The Bar Royal in the rotunda is the social centre of the house in the evening. In summer a grill opens by the pool.

Wellness

The Spa Evian Source covers about 1,200 square metres with an indoor pool, treatment rooms, hammam, sauna and a programme built on the Evian water itself. An outdoor heated pool sits in the park with the lake beyond it, and there are tennis courts and a fitness room. The resort's 18-hole golf course, the Evian Resort Golf Club, has hosted the Evian Championship, one of the five majors of women's golf, since the tournament took that status in 2013; guests have access to the course.

Weddings and events

The Royal is the largest conference hotel on the French shore of the lake. It has a dedicated conference centre with meeting rooms and a plenary hall, used for congresses and company seminars combined with golf and the spa. Weddings use the terraces, the park and the frescoed salons, with dinners in Les Fresques or in the rotunda. Capacities for each room are confirmed by the resort's events office.

Location

Évian-les-Bains is on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, in Haute-Savoie. Geneva airport is about 50 minutes by car along the lake, or the ferry from Lausanne crosses in 35 minutes to the Évian landing below the hotel. Évian-les-Bains station has trains to Geneva and Paris. The ski resorts of the Portes du Soleil are under an hour. On the lake, this is the resort hotel with the largest park and the only one with a major golf championship at its gate.