Fairmont Le Montreux Palace
Montreux, Switzerland
From: Luxury
Hotels on Lac Léman
ABOVE: A vintage steamer cruises past
Le Montreux Palace. INSET BELOW: An indoor-outdoor view of Lac Léman
and the Alps.
 Montreux,
made famous by Rousseau's Le nouvelle Heloise and Lord Byron's The
Prisoner of Chillon, drew a wealthy crowd to the sunny shores of Lac Léman
in the years between 1850 and World War I. To meet the demand for a luxury
resort hotel, a pair of Swiss hoteliers built
Le Montreux Palace
in 1906. The hotel attracted guests from all over the world with
state-of-the-art features such as running water, electricity, central heating,
and--by 1911--a skating rink and shooting range.
During World War I, the hotel served as a hospital for wounded Allied soldiers;
it later attracted such illustrious guests as composer Richard Strauss and
novelist Vladimir Nabokov (who lived in the hotel from 1961 until his death in
1977).
Today, Le Montreux Palace is a five-star luxury hotel
with air conditioning, Wi-Fi Internet access, and other modern amenities. The
hotel, which belongs to the Fairmont group, has 235 rooms and suites, making it the largest of the three hotels
profiled in this article. It's also the only hotel of the three where guests can
reach the lakefront promenade without crossing a road.
Dining rooms and bars at Le Montreux Palace include
Jaan (a French restaurant with Asian accents that earned a Michelin star in
2003), La Brasserie du Palace (brasserie and menu service from 11:30 a.m.
to 11 p.m.), Ta Terrasse du Petit Palais (light Asian cuisine), La
Palmeraie (breakfast buffet), Harry's New York Bar (with live music
and late-night meals), the Piano Bar Rose d'Or, and the CopyCat
Nightclub, which opens at 11 p.m. for the insomniac set.
The hotel's spa is billed as "oasis of
water, wood, and stone." The 2000 m² spa has indoor
and outdoor swimming pools, steam zones, bubble loungers, a fitness rooms, and
10 treatment rooms (including a two-bed "VIP Room" with its own salon, bubble
bath, steambath, shower, and terrace). There's also a juice bar with terrace and
a lawn with views of the lake. (See
photos on next page.)
Location: Le
Montreux Palace faces the lakeside promenade in
Montreux, a resort city of 23,000 between
Lausanne and Vevey. The city is famous for the
Castle of Chillon and the annual
Montreux Jazz Festival. It's easy to reach by train from Geneva Airport and
is a short train ride from Canton Vaud's capital city of
Lausanne.
Hotel Web site:
www.fairmont.com/montreux/
Next page:
Fairmont Le Montreux
Palace photos
Photos copyright © Le Montreux Palace.
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