Hotel Ritz Madrid by Grand Hotels of the World.com

Information

Accommodation:
• There are 131 rooms and 17 suites.
Facilities:
• Goya restaurant, the Terrace & Gardens restaurant, the Lobby bar and the Velazquez bar.
• Conferences and receptions facilities, a business center, a wedding and reception facilities.
Location:
• Located between the Prado and Thyssem-Bornemhisza museums, close to the Zarzuela Theater.

History

• 1850: Birth of Cesar Ritz in Niederwald, Switzerland.
• 1867: Cesar Ritz comes to Paris at the occasion of the Exposition Universelle and starts working as a young waiter in different Restaurants.
• 1881: Ritz becomes the Director of the Grand Hotel de Monte Carlo.
• 1888: Ritz and his partner Auguste Escoffier buy a restaurant in Baden-Baden.
• 1889: Sir Richard d’Oily Carte convinces Cesar Ritz to becomes the Director of the his famous Hotel Savoy in London.
• 1896: Cesar Ritz creates the Ritz Hotel Development Company. César Ritz decides to create a new style of Luxury Hotel destinated to clients ready to pay a very high price under the condition he offers them what they cannot find anywhere else.
• 1898: Opening of the Hotel Ritz in Paris.
• 1906: Opening of the Hotel Ritz in London.
• 1907: King Alfonso XIII of Spain is very impressed by the glamour of the Ritz Hotels in Paris and London. The King wants Cesar Ritz to open a Hotel in Madrid as well.
• 1908: Start of the construction of the Hotel Ritz Madrid under the French architect Charles Frédéric Mewes and the Spanish architect Luis de Landecho. Charles Frederic Mewes also built the iconic Hotel Ritz in Paris (1895-1898), the no longer existing Hotel Carlton in London (1897-1899), the Hotel Ritz in London (1904-1905) and the Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastian (1910-1912)
• 1910: Opening of the Hotel Ritz in Madrid.
• 1926: Acquisition of the Ritz by the Belgian Georges Marquet (1886-1947), founder of « Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hôtels Européens », later part of the Compagnie Internationale des wagons-lits. Marquet also owned the Palace Hotel Madrid located opposite the Ritz, he had founded in 1912.
• 1947: After the death of Georges Marquet, the Ritz and the Palace remain in the Marquet family.
• 1956: Honeymoon of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of Monaco.
• 1978: Acquisition of the Hotel Ritz by Enrique Masso. Masso also buys the Palace Hotel.
• 1981: Acquisition of the Hotel by Thrusthouse Forte for 1 billion Pesetas. Brown’s Hotel later became of the 21 « Exclusive Hotels by Forte », the top segment of the conglomerate including 800 Hotels, from the most luxurious hotels to the most economical roadside inns.
• 1993: Hostile takeover of THF (Thrusthouse Forte) by Granada, a British Media conglomerate.

As a result of the takeover battle THF was dismanteled and the Hotels were sold one by one. Two of the children restared a new Hotel company called Rocco Forte collection (see also Rocco Forte Balmoral Hotel).

• 1996: Acquisition of the Hotel Ritz by the British Hotel Chain Orient Express and the Spanish Businesswoman Alicia Koplowitz for 125 million Euro.
• 2014 March 10: The « Orient Express » Hotels brand is rebaptised « Belmond ».

Article by « Grand Hotels of the World & VB.com », written from « Cremerie de Paris ».

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