Grand Hotel

Fülszöveg

GRAND HOTEL THE GOLDEN AGE OF PALACE HOTELS AN ARCHITECTURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY Before the political and industrial revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, palaces were royal dwellings. By 1850 'palace' had become a synonym for the kind of grand hotel where the new and fabulously wealthy bourgeoisie, on both sides of the Atlantic, could enjoy life on a scale from which they had previously been excluded. The technology of the industrial revolution permitted miracles in construction high-ceilinged lobbies with painted glass panels suspended from steel ribbing; floating staircases for grand entrances by jewel-encrusted courtesans; imitation Louis XV and XVI furniture by the truckload; central cooling and heating; giant crystal chandeliers; marble bathrooms in every suite. Staffed by armies of servants, led by such men of genius as César Ritz and Escoffier, these hotels became the centre of a brilliant social life involving banquets, balls, pastime flirtations and... Tovább

Fülszöveg

GRAND HOTEL THE GOLDEN AGE OF PALACE HOTELS AN ARCHITECTURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY Before the political and industrial revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, palaces were royal dwellings. By 1850 'palace' had become a synonym for the kind of grand hotel where the new and fabulously wealthy bourgeoisie, on both sides of the Atlantic, could enjoy life on a scale from which they had previously been excluded. The technology of the industrial revolution permitted miracles in construction high-ceilinged lobbies with painted glass panels suspended from steel ribbing; floating staircases for grand entrances by jewel-encrusted courtesans; imitation Louis XV and XVI furniture by the truckload; central cooling and heating; giant crystal chandeliers; marble bathrooms in every suite. Staffed by armies of servants, led by such men of genius as César Ritz and Escoffier, these hotels became the centre of a brilliant social life involving banquets, balls, pastime flirtations and seductions, gambling, colossal business deals, and even the occasional murder from behind a potted palm. And when úrban pressures were too great, the new pleasure-seekers found rest in other such 'palaces' in Europe's fabled mountain, laké and sea resorts. In the hundred-year span 1830-1930 a style was created that is encapsulated and enhanced in this beautifully illustrated ;| book. All the románcé and glamour of great hotels of Europe and America are treated here for the first time in the light of social and architectural history. Period documents, photographs of upstairs and downstairs life and quotations from famous travellers, revive a luxurious and lost way of life. The splendour of the Belle Epoque is recreated in a book that will delight travellers, social historians, architects, and interior designers. Illustrated with 470 photographs, 236 in full colour, 123 in duotone and 110 in black and white. Vissza