Hall of Fame

The people who made the grand hotels: the residents who wrote their legend, and the builders who founded or owned them. 14 portraits, two centuries.

Coco Chanel

1883 – 1971

Fashion designer, resident of the Ritz for thirty-four years

Aimée de Heeren

1903 – 2006

Jet-set icon, resident of Le Meurice and Chanel's friend

Princess Soraya

1932 – 2001

Former Queen of Iran, a regular of the Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich

Empress Eugénie

1826 – 1920

Her Biarritz villa became the Hôtel du Palais

Duke of Westminster

1879 – 1953

“Bendor”, England's richest man and Chanel's companion

Grand Duke Michael of Russia

1861 – 1929

Main investor of the Carlton in Cannes

Henri Ruhl

1882 – 1955

Founder of the Carlton in Cannes, opened in 1911

Arthur Millon

1852 – 1913

Owner of Le Meurice from 1905

King Maximilian II of Bavaria

1811 – 1864

The king behind the Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich

August Schimon

1806 – 1866

Wine merchant, founder of the Vier Jahreszeiten

Alfred Walterspiel

1881 – 1960

Chef, co-owner of the Vier Jahreszeiten from 1926

Otto Walterspiel

1884 – 1974

Businessman, co-owner of the Vier Jahreszeiten

August Oetker

1862 – 1918

His family founded the Oetker Collection: Brenners, Cap-Eden-Roc, Le Bristol

Charles Forte

1908 – 2007

Founder of the Forte group; his son created Rocco Forte Hotels

Two centuries of crossed lives

Each bar covers a lifetime: you can see who could have met whom, in the same halls.

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