The Most Famous Hoteliers of All Time. Volume 1 - ebook

FOREWORD

My adventure with the history of the hotel industry started back in 2003, when as a hotel manager with ten years’ of experience I wrote my first article on Kemmons Wilson – the founder of the Holiday Inn brand. It was published in a Polish hotel magazine called Hotelarz under the title of Rewolucyjna podróż (A Revolutionary Journey). Back then, the Polish publishing market did not offer any books about prominent figures of the lodging industry. To fill this gap, I started exploring the Internet and ferreting out all the information on hotelkeepers from different eras and parts of the world, analyzing their contribution to the growth of this profession and the entire hospitality industry. As a result, subsequently, biographies of Ernest Henderson, Ellsworth Statler, Charles Forte and John Willard Marriott were forged.

Eventually, I arrived at the idea of enriching these previous loose articles with more characters that would be then combined into a single comprehensive book. Originally, I intended to present biographies of sixteen famous hoteliers; however, the volume of my work grew progressively reaching up to thirty-six chapters. The ultimate version of the book, which I have titled The Most Famous Hoteliers Of All Time, took nearly fifteen years to write. Although in the course of this process I stopped working in the hotel business, the subject of this study has become my passion. A passion I have given my all heart to by dedicating lots of time to explore it. I wanted to create a valuable compendium of knowledge that would be factually correct, with every mentioned fact backed by a reliable source. Throughout those years, I have collected and read tens of books in foreign languages and thousands of online articles, including many digitalized press excerpts dating as far back as to the first half of the 20th century. Some of the previously written chapters had to be corrected later on after I encountered other significant information or when some of the protagonists passed away. All these efforts allowed me to hone my study to the minutest detail.

Since December 2021, the printed version of the book in Polish Najsławniejsi hotelarze wszech czasów has been available on sale. The release was financed using my own resources exclusively, without the help of any publishing company. Owing to the power of social media and word-of-mouth publicity, the entire first issue sold out within only three months. Good reviews provided mainly by people in the industry encouraged me to take up further steps to promote the knowledge about the illustrious hoteliers around the world. Up until now, Americans used to write about American hotelkeepers only, whereas the Swiss used to write about the Swiss ones; however, now, a Polish man decided to bring together all the stories and achievements of hoteliers of various nationalities in the form of one comprehensive study.

The digital English version of The Most Famous Hoteliers Of All Time comprises two volumes arranged into thirty-six chapters that unravel incredible stories of forty-one hotelkeepers. Among them, one can find builders, constructors, developers, hotel owners and managers, chefs and maîtres d’hôtel, as well as creators of new concepts, hotel brands and entire hotel chains. The study explains the origins of hospitality companies and hotel chains, such as Ritz, Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, Holiday Inn, Oberoi, Sheraton, Accor, Four Seasons, Days Inn, Residence Inn, Howard Johnson’s, Hyatt, Best Western, Trust Houses Forte and many more. Much space has been given to the true pioneers of the trade who have long been forgotten yet had an immense impact on the development of professional hotelkeeping. They raised exceptional buildings in difficult-to-access locations, ran them most skillfully and introduced innovative ideas and standards that are employed to this day, but most of all, they provided travelers with hotel services of good quality. These prominent figures undoubtedly improved the professional status of hoteliers and enhanced the prestige of the industry. I would like the publication The Most Famous Hoteliers Of All Time to serve as a tribute to the legends of the hotel trade worldwide who went down in history. For this reason, I dedicate this unique compendium of knowledge to all hoteliers around the globe eager to explore the roots of their profession and the standards that have been implemented in the industry over the years.

ROBERT WOLIŃSKI

P.S. I do realize that my choice of protagonists is based on a subjective judgment and that many believe there are other hoteliers who also deserve a place in the pantheon of hotelkeeping legends. I fully agree with this view, particularly given that the factual resources that I have collected could easily provide the content for more volumes of this book. Will there be the third and fourth tomes of The Most Famous Hoteliers Of All Time? Time will tell.1

JOHANNES BAUR

The pioneer of professional hotelkeeping

The opening of his first hotel in 1838 became a historical harbinger of the shift from traditional inns and guest houses to modern-day hotels. Some consider Johannes Baur the pioneer of professional hotelkeeping. This is because he initiated a new generation of Swiss hoteliers exceptionally skilled at managing newly built large accommodation facilities that became famous across the entire Europe.

Johannes Baur, 1795–1865
(Source: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek)

Johannes Baur was born on December 13, 1795, in Götzis located in the Austrian region of Vorarlberg.1 He was the son of a customs official who, at the same time, served as the mayor of that city, and also ran a small hostelry called the Lion Inn.2 Young Johannes completed his baking apprenticeship and in 1820, he emigrated to Switzerland, where six years later he was granted the citizenship of that country. In 1828, he married Anne Knechtli, and in 1832, he opened an inn called Zum Kirschbaum (“Cherry Tree”) on Marktgasse in Zürich, which he ran together with the confectioner David Sprüngli.3 In 1837, he purchased a building of an old rectory situated right next to the most important post office in the city, and he founded there Café Baur. However, he was more passionate about architecture and building design than about the culinary arts. In that time, the conservative city council of Zürich was unseated by the victorious democrats and liberals who decided on changing development plans for the downtown area. As a result, the city’s 17th-century fortifications, defensive walls and watchtowers were demolished, thus allowing space for the execution of the vision of a modern city that would be well-connected with the entire region. By the summer of 1836, at least 500 new buildings had been erected in Zürich. One of the plots of land on Neumarkt was acquired by Baur, who undertook to raise an edifice whose style would harmonize with the new post office building erected vis-à-vis.4

Johannes Baur already had a plan. He had a feeling that the business of travel would blossom to undreamed-of dimensions; that horse-drawn coaches would soon be replaced by the steam locomotive, thus considerably shortening travel time, and people would discover the pleasure of mobility. Furthermore, there were already several guest houses operating in Zürich at that time; however, the conditions they provided to travelers were far from convenient and luxurious. Certain that guests’ expectations would soon change, Baur decided to build an extravagant hotel that would set new standards. The project of the neoclassic building with its façade in Ionic order was created in cooperation with his friend, talented young architect Daniel Pfister. Hotel Baur en Ville was opened on December 24, 1838, with a lavish banquet thrown in honor of this occasion for post office workers and the staff in the grand restaurant.5 Soon after, Johannes put full-page advertisements in foreign press. For instance, in the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine, he informed his prospective guests, “Vouching for the best and most elegant of service, I hereby take upon myself the honor of cordially inviting all domestic and foreign travelers to . I undertake to do everything in my power to satisfy the needs of personages of whatsoever rank in my establishment.”6 Indeed, the hotel had no match. Not only due to its unprecedented enormous size and capacity that no other lodging facility could compete with at that time, but also due to its technical innovations, such as an elevator used for transporting meals up to the highest hotel floors. The Baur en Ville comprised rooms with 140 beds, a restaurant, two dining areas, ten extravagant boudoirs and a stable for 36 to 40 horses.7 Johannes Baur hit the bull’s-eye. His hotel earned high acclaim among guests from the top social circles looking for a highly intimate place for rest. Baur identified their needs perfectly and took great care to fulfil their wishes, ensuring an exceptional ambiance. His establishment was visited by, among others, German general Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, the owner of Creditanstalt Bank Anselm von Rothschild, and composers Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Franz Liszt.8

Baur en Ville on Neumarkt is the first Grand Hotel in Zurich. (Source: Hotel Baur au Lac Hotel)

The success of the Baur en Ville encouraged him to make further bold moves. It turned out that the city put another plot of land on sale – this time, it was located on the very shore of Lake Zürich, in the place of a former military port. Without a second thought, Baur acquired it with the intent to establish another hotel of a similar class there. The task of designing this building, whose original size was reminiscent more of a bigger villa, was assigned to architect Johannes Jacob Keller.9 In 1844, the structure christened as the Baur au Lac started receiving guests. However, citizens of Zürich were greatly surprised that, in contrast to the prevailing custom, the façade of the building with six balconies was facing away from the downtown, and toward the lake and the distant Alps. Not only did Baur want to ensure that his guests would enjoy magnificent views from room windows, but also guarantee complete privacy to everyone who preferred traveling incognito.10 What according to many observers was meant to become the nail in the coffin turned out to be his signature style appreciated by the visitors. The entire European aristocracy and wealthy classes flocked first and foremost to the Baur au Lac, and not to Zürich. The uniqueness of that place was described in, among others, a two-page article “The Beautification of Zurich” published in the Leipzig newspaper Illustrierte Zeitung. One of its editors arrived at the Baur au Lac ten years after the opening of the hotel during his long journey across Switzerland; upon his return, he put his impressions of the sojourn at the hotel down on paper. “Mr. Baur’s art has gone to great lengths to compete with Nature itself, which lavishly unfolds all its manifold charms in this sublime place. The outward appearance of the hotel promises much, much indeed. On entering the interior and perusing the luxuriant salons and bedrooms, however, one is overwhelmed to find all one’s expectations surpassed.”11

The democratic changes that took place in 1848 and the charm of mountain resorts attracted numerous foreign tourists to Switzerland. Zürich was a popular stopover. Back then, the success of Baur au Lac was already reflected in its high revenues. This allowed Johannes Baur to first swiftly satisfy his creditors, and then gradually expand the hotel building outwards. The first extension works took place in 1853, whereas in 1898, the second wing was opened and the building attained to its pre­sent-day dimensions (after its initiator’s death). He also added to the Baur en Ville a restaurant called Café Orsini.

Hotel Baur au Lac opened in 1844 remains the property of the Baur family. (Source: Hotel Baur au Lac)

In the first years, the high acclaim earned by the Baur au Lac reached also the courts of European monarchs. In 1852, King of Sweden and Norway Oscar I stopped there with his family as Count Tullgarn. Four years later, it was visited by Duchess of Orléans Helene Luise Elisabeth. King Ludwig I of Bavaria house Wittelsbach stayed there twice, in 1862 and in 1863, whereas in 1867, Empress of Austria Elisabeth (Sisi) spent the entire summer at the Baur au Lac with two princes and an entourage of sixty people. Over the years that followed, it also hosted, among others, the Russian Tsarina, the King of Egypt, German Emperor Wilhelm II, the Princess of Wales, and the Emperor of Ethiopia. However, it was not only crowned heads who would come to the Zürich hotel, as it was also patronized by artists, scientists, industrialists, diplomats, and other wealthier tourists. In 1856, within the walls of Baur au Lac the premiere of the first act of Richard Wagner’s opera The Valkyrie was held. On November 10, 1859, in the ballroom Petit Palais, representatives of the Austrian Empire, the French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia signed the Treaty of Zürich, which put an end to a war between these states. In 1892, at this very establishment, Baroness Bertha von Suttner convinced Alfred Nobel to fund the peace prize.12

In 1852, Johannes Baur backed out from the business and handed the management of the Baur au Lac over to his twenty-four-year-old son Theodor (1828–1904).13 He threw himself into vegetable gardening, which provided produce for both hotels. Seven years later, they were both made honorary citizens of Zürich in recognition of contribution to the improvement of the architectural beauty of the city and the frequency of foreign visitors. Johannes died in Zürich on November 24, 1865.14

The hotel business was Theodor Baur’s element, as water is that of fishes. Managed in the most thorough manner, both hotels successfully maintained under his direction the position of the best luxury hotels in Switzerland. The hotelier undertook many different initiatives to make services more efficient and to ‘enchant’ his guests. In 1852, Baur au Lac became the first hotel in the world to introduce a telegraph office. In turn, in 1888, the building was electrified and a hydraulic elevator was installed in it. Furthermore, in 1868, Theodor Baur began organizing concerts on lake steamers. He also paid much attention to vocational training. For this reason, among other things, he sold hotel Baur en Ville, and used the money that he made to support one of the influential members of the Swiss Hotel Association Jacques Tschumi in the founding of the world’s first hotelier school in Lausanne in 1893.15

In 1889, the name of the owner of Baur au Lac changed, although it still remained in the hands of the family. At that time, following in the footsteps of his father, Theodor Baur gave the building over to his daughter Emmy and her husband Carl Kracht. He himself moved to his farmstead Uetliberg, where he engaged in farming until his death in 1904.

Carl Kracht was already experienced in the trade, since after the death of his father, Friedrich, he was managing chic Hotel Ernst (later called Excelsior Hotel Ernst) in Cologne, Germany, together with his mother. Carl died in 1914 and the Baur au Lac became the property of his sons Fritz and Hermann. Likewise, the hotel was handed down from generation to generation. Its subsequent owners were Hermann’s son Charles Kracht (died in 1990) and, until present, Charles’ children Andrea Kracht and Gabrielle Feldhahn-Kracht.16

The Baur au Lac is one of the oldest luxury hotels in the world that remains in the hands of its founder’s family. In the 1990s, it underwent a general modernization on an unprecedented scale in the history of the Swiss hotel industry for that time. Likewise, the other hotel built by Johannes operates to this day under the name of Savoy Baur de Ville.ENDNOTES

1. Johannes Baur

1 Johannes Baur, Historisches Lexikon des Schweiz, www.hls-dhs-dss.ch.

2 E. Denby, Grand Hotels, Reaktion Books 1998, 114.

3 L. Gaulis, R. Creux, Schweizer Pioniere Der Hotellerie, Editions De Fontainemore 1976, 198.

4 Baur au Lac, Birth of a Legend, 2.

5 D. Nievergelt, Stadt Zürich: Bauten aus dem Mittelalter bis zum 19. Jahrhundert, e-periodica 1979, 51.

6 Baur au Lac, Birth of a Legend, 4.

7 Savoy Hotel Baur en Ville feiert 180-jährigen Geburtstag, www.htr.ch.

8 Baur en Ville, wikipedia.org.

9 E. Denby, Grand Hotels, op.cit., 114.

10 Baur Au Lac Information, www.iltm.com.

11 The Baur au Lac Story, www.bauraulac.ch.

12 A. Mourby, Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Grand Hotels, Icon Books 2007.

13 Baur au Lac, Birth of a Legend, 6.

14 Johannes Baur, Historisches Lexikon des Schweiz, www.hls-dhs-dss.ch.

15 Theodor Baur, Historisches Lexikon des Schweiz, www.hls-dhs-dss.ch.

16 F. Gubler, R. Glynn, Great, Grand & Famous Hotels, 2008, 62

2. Henry Flagler

1 S. Turkel, Great American Hoteliers. Pioneers of the Hotel Industry, AuthorHouse 2008, 43.

2 John D. Rockefeller, www.wikipedia.org.

3 Henry Flagler, www.encyclopedia.com.

4 Henry Flagler, www.wikipedia.org

5 Henry Flagler, www.flagler.edu.

6 S. Wallus Sammons, Henry Flagler, Builder of Florida, Pineapple Press Inc. 2010, 13.

7 Florida East Coast Railway, www.wikipedia.org.

8 S. Turkel, Great American Hoteliers…, op.cit., 46.

9 Henry Flagler, www.floridamemory.com.

10 Stanley Turkel, Nobody Asked Me, But.. No. 148; Hotel History: Casa Monica Hotel (1888), St. Augustine, Florida, www.hotel-online.com.

11 G. Turner, A Short History of Florida Railroads, Arcadia Publishing 2003, 69–70.

12 Hotel Ormond, www.ormondhistory.org.

13 G. Turner, A Short History of Florida Railroads, op. cit., 72

14 Breakers, www.jan.ucc.nau.edu

15 C. Piket, Miami’s First Luxury Hotel, www.miami-history.com

16 Royal Palm Hotel Miami, www.wikipedia.org

17 N. D. Shappee, Tequesta: Flagler’s Undertakings in Miami in 1897, www.digitalcollections.fiu.edu

18 S. Bramson, Speedway to Sunshine: The Story of the Florida East Coast Railway, Boston Mills Press 2010, 49

19 The Continental Hotel, www.beachesmuseum.org

20 Whitehall, www.flaglermuseum.us

21 S. Turkel, Great American Hoteliers…, op. cit., 61.

22 M. Gross, The Long Key Resort: Flagler’s Floridian Fantasy, www.nypost.com

23 S. Turkel, Great American Hoteliers…, op. cit., 61