Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat

History

* A luxury hotel of past and present

Luxury hotels were invented to be the stuff of dreams. The highest ranking of all the many “palaces” thatsprung up all over the French Riviera, the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat overlooks the sea from thefurthermost tip of the peninsula from which it takes its name.

At the turn of the 20th Century, Cap-Ferrat was little more than a wilderness of rocks and dense scrubland, vegetation that only changed as real estate began to develop there. At the end of the 19th century, piece by piece, King Leopold II of Belgiumpurchased the peninsula’s only wooded area, and then proceeded to expand his estate by buying upmost of the vacant land around.

Shortly before 1900, Leopold sold part of his property to a company founded by a Mr. Péretmère, the son of a coachman from the north who had some savings of his own. He reserved six and a half hectares of the land for the hotel, whose construction began in 1908 with the two wings built at an open angle to each other, then the following year a loggia dining room and the large, central Rotonde were added. By then the building had its final, distinctive silhouette, remarkably simple for the time. A little later, the Grand-Hôtel was bought by Madame Ferras, a widow and the grandmother of famous violinist Christian Ferras.

The First World War broke out shortly after the new owner’s arrival and the hotel became a hospital. In 1922, two professional hoteliers, Messrs Henri Dehouve and André Voyenne (my father), acquired a majority shareholding and took over the running ofthe company. They were to remain in charge for over twenty years, a period marked not only by the Great Depression and the Second World War, but also by a complete revolution in holidaying habits.

* When the sun was the enemy

Since it first became known in the second half of the 19th Century, and up until the 1930s, the French Riviera remained almost exclusively a luxury destination. Most visitors were either wealthy individuals of independent means or royalty from northern countries, in particular England and Russia. They came only in winter and for long visits. Queen Victoria and her court, numerous aristocratic families, Princess Louise, the Duke of Connaught, President Paul Deschanel and many other politicians of the French 3rdRepublic, the pianist Marguerite Long, the violinist Jacques Thibaud, and movie stars such as Charles Boyer, Charlie Chaplin and many others were to follow.

* The summer season emerges

Not until 1930 did a few unconventional visitors venture down to the Riviera in summertime, mostly avant-garde writers and artists. They all came in search of solitude, since practically nobody came then, and relished in a certain snobbery surrounding their alternative style of travelling. In Cap-Ferrat itself, these new habits arrived purely by chance. During the summer of 1933, the German filmmaker G.W. Pabst persuaded Chaliapine to star in his version of Don Quixote. Since he did not have the funds to film in Spain, the director decided that Cap-Ferrat’s landscape would be perfectly suitable. One day, the film crew appeared at the hotel, which was closed at the time but nevertheless offered them improvised accommodation for a few weeks. The actors and film crew were so delighted with their stay in this heavenly location that many of them asked to return the following year for a private visit. Little by little, the summer season emerged, attracting a whole new generation of holidaymakers, younger and more athletic than their predecessors and seeking sun and sea above all else. Since the hotel’s rocky coastline made it difficult to reach the sea, a cove was blasted from the rock.

* The dark years, then a revival and metamorphosis

A few weeks after the beginning of the war, the Grand-Hôtel was boarded up and plunged into darkness for six long years. On March 5th 1944, in preparation for an allied landing, the entire peninsula was evacuated and riddled with mines. Local inhabitants were given only a few hours to grab some of their belongings and flee. The rest is history. Thankfully, the hotel and swimming pool survived entirely unscathed by nearby shelling and by the explosion that destroyed the lighthouse.Text: extracts by André Voyenne

* Upon the reopening at the end of the war, the procession of the great, rich and famous continued ; the European royal houses, lords and barons from England; the great entrepreneurs of finance and industry, glittering literary and artistic celebrities.

Other illustrious guests were the novelist Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill and Aristote Onassis.The legendary swimming instructor, Pierre Gruneberg, has given lessons to Picasso, as well to both Paul McCartney’s and Frank Sinatra’s children.

Metamorphosis

2009 will see the completion of a metamorphosis that blends tradition, innovation and respect fornature.

The extension will be built in two phases while the hotel is closed from October to April 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, and will open in May 2009.

The project was designed by architect Luc Svetchine and comprises 16 rooms, 8 suites with private plunge pools, a 7500sq.feet spawith indoor swimming pool and the creation of two new suites on the garden level of the main building.

The grounds are the work of landscape gardener Jean Mus. With the construction of new underground car parks, the above-ground parking areas will disappear.

Rooms and suites

As of May 1st 2009, the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat will propose 74 rooms (including 24 suites and the Penthouse), a convert|7500|sqft|m2|abbr=on spa & fitness center and a convert|5500|sqft|m2|abbr=on presidential suite, the Villa Rose-Pierre with its sea-view and pine grove.

* The Penthouse and the Villa Rose Pierre

From villas and palaces to yachts and jets, interior designer and architect Alberto Pinto has designed and implemented many prestigious projects for an international clientele that includes the Elysée presidential palace in Paris, Pierre Balmain’s house, the Saudi Arabian royal family's palace and the Club Med sailing yachts.

In Spring 2007 he turned his talents to the Penthouse suite and the Villa Rose-Pierre, creating an entirely unique atmosphere inspired by the colours and landscapes of Southern France.

Club Dauphin

Down the hill from the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat’s main building, an elegant, allglass, air-conditioned funicular awaits guests for a smooth, forty-second glide through wild vegetation with a view of the sea, whisking them down to the Club Dauphin.

The funicular can carry up to 12 passengers. It has a teak floor, automatically closing doors with safety sensors, and a benchseat facing the sea.

Looking out at nothing else than the vast blue expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, bathed in sunlight and surrounded by wild scrubland - lentisk, rockrose, strawberry trees and fragrant climbing rosemary and lavender – the Club Dauphin with its heated seawater swimming pool is a seafront location that is second to none.

Restaurants

The Grand-Hôtel celebrates gastronomy and wine with its exceptional wine weekends dedicated to rare grands crus. The delicious cuisine of Chef Didier Anies can be savoured in three locations: at the Le Cap Gastronomic Restaurant, on its terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and shaded by Aleppo pines, or at the Club Dauphin Restaurant next to the pool.

* "Le Cap" gastronomic restaurant and its terrace of "Alep" pine trees, headed by executive chef Didier Aniès, Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2000 and one Michelin star in 2008

With its Trompe-l'œil décor and breathtaking view over the treetops of Alep pine trees and out to sea, this bright and spacious restaurant sits 90 people. In summer, guests are invited to dine on the terrace beneath the Aleppo pine trees, an idyllic setting in which to savour talented Chef Didier Anies’s simple yet sophisticated cuisine. His seasonal menu includes: Fine lasagne with Aquitaine caviar & baby leeks in olive oil, Carnaroli risotto with langoustines and Reggiano parmesan, Roasted John Dory withslightly sautéed purple artichokes, olives and parsley, Bresse chicken “en Deux Services”, Spitroasted Bresse chicken supreme, Chicken confit with foie gras and black truffles, Grand Marnier soufflé with pistachio ice cream …

* The Club Dauphin restaurant

The lighter, more summery menu remains faithful to Mediterranean ingredients like freshly picked tomatoes, fava beans and fennel, and sea bass and tuna straight from the fishing boats. The traditional Provençal summer buffet is a feast for the eyes and for the taste buds, and the overall holiday atmosphere in this restaurant makes it a perfect place for a family lunch.

Vintage wines

The Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat is the owner of one of the world’s most spectacularwine collections:
* 140 vintage bottles of Château d'Yquem dating from 1854 TO 2003
* 38 vintage bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild dating from 1799 to 2003

* Château d'Yquem

On February 16th 2007, the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat acquired a unique collection of 135 rare and valuable bottles of “Château d’Yquem” Sauternes wines. Spanning three centuries from 1860 to 2003, this is the world’s largest collection of dessert wines of this calibre, larger even than the collection in the Chateau’s own wine cellars.These are late harvest wines, lovingly prepared “by hand” in limited quantities in Sauternes (Bordeaux), so concentrated and complex that they can mature for years, even for centuries.The collection includes nine empty bottles signed by the Director of Château d’Yquem, one for each year in which no wines were produced due to poor weather conditions.This is thought to be a truly unique collection and one that could never exist again due to Château d’Yquem’s new regulations on re-bottling wines after 40 years.In August 2007, another six vintage bottles from 1854 to 1859 were added to the collection.

* Château Lafite Rothschild

The Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat's collection of exceptional crus was again expanded in October 2007 with the acquisition of 38 bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild, ranging from 1799 to 2003, and including regular 75 cl bottles, jeroboams and double magnums.

Music Festival

The Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat Music FestivalArtistic director : Michael Desjardins

The Festival is an up-to-date version of the tradition of salon music, which dates back to centuries past, and of the jazz clubs and Parisian café-theatres where audiences would rub shoulders with the artists. The Rotonde, designed by Gustave Eiffel, is a comfortable venue with outstanding acoustics.The programme spans every genre of vocal and instrumental music from all eras: opera, classical music, baroque music, film soundtracks, international variety, jazz, traditional music, and first performances of original works of contemporarymusic.

Stéphane Grappelli, Michel Legrand, Yuri Boukoff, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Julia Migénes, Léo Nucci, Elizabeth Vidal, Jordi Savall, Simion Stanciu Syrinx, Didier Lockwood, Youri Bashmet, James Bowman, Gary Hoffman, Bruno Léonardo Gelber, Marianne James, Claude Bolling, Frédéric Lodéon, Wilhemenia Fernandez, Michel Petrucciani, Mikhaël Rudy, Marie-Paule Belle, Natalie Choquette, Stacey Kent, Dianne Reeves, Anna-Maria Kaufmann, Maxime Vengerov, Andrei Gavrilov, Philippe Bender & the Cannes Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Regional Orchestra, the Nice Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, the Ensemble Baroque de Nice, the Andreyev Balalaïka Imperial Orchestra and many others have delighted audiences there.

Notes and sources

*"Information from the press kit from the hotel, public information and expressly authorized by the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat, July 2008"