Hotel Bristol
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The Hotel Bristol is the name of more than 200 hotels around the world. They range from grand European hotels, such as
Hôtel Le Bristol Paris Hôtel Le Bristol is a five-star hotel located in Paris, France, at 112 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Hôtel Le Bristol opened in 1925 and is famous for its historic architecture. The hotel is part of the Oetker Collection, Masterpiece Hotels, ...
and the Hotel Bristol in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
or
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
to budget hotels, such as the SRO (single room occupancy) Bristol in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. They are not a chain, except in Brazil, where Bristol Hoteis & Resorts has around a dozen hotels throughout the country with the Bristol name.


Origins

The first known Hotel Bristol was in
Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It i ...
in Paris. It opened in 1816 and became a favourite of the Prince of Wales, later
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, who had a suite there. When it closed in 1916, its name was fought over, and finally won by Hippolyte Jammet, who opened
Hôtel Le Bristol Paris Hôtel Le Bristol is a five-star hotel located in Paris, France, at 112 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Hôtel Le Bristol opened in 1925 and is famous for its historic architecture. The hotel is part of the Oetker Collection, Masterpiece Hotels, ...
in nearby Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, today one of the city's five-star palace hotels. Two possible origins of the name are the association with the English port-city of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and Frederick Hervey, the fourth Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730–1803). According to his biographer: "So widely famed was the Bishop as a traveller, and so great his reputation as a connoisseur of all good things, that Lord Bristol's hotel...came to be the best known and regarded in every city or town where he sojourned and was thus the precursor of the Hotels Bristol to be found all over Europe." Lord Bristol died in Italy at the start of the
Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
(1803–15), which interrupted the
Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...
. The Bristol in Paris was one of many opened in the ensuing peace, hoping to re-establish the Continental tourist trade. The fact that many hotels, such as the Bernini Bristol in Rome, use the
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of the City of Bristol in their logos leads to speculation that they are named after the city and not the Earl-Bishop. But there is no evidence that the Bristol family ever granted use of their arms to any hotel, while the city's coat of arms can freely be adopted to give an aristocratic image.


Modern distribution

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
now has the most hotels of this name, with more than 50, whilst
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
has around 30. Many luxury Bristol hotels from the Edwardian era (for example in Beaulieu-sur-Mer,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
, Mar del Plata,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and St Petersburg) have not survived, but a new Hotel Bristol opened in St Petersburg in 2012, and the Bristol Hotel, Odessa (1899) has reclaimed its name after changing it to the Krasnaya Hotel during the Soviet era. One of the oldest still functioning is the Bernini Bristol in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, which opened in 1874. Bristol hotels also have a presence in the Middle East in Beirut since 1951 with Le Bristol Hotel Beirut. Modern hotels to use the name include those in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
and Gurgaon, India. The city of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
did not have a Bristol hotel until 2007 when Jurys Hotel Bristol changed its name simply to The Bristol.


Associations

*
Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminist known for the ''SCUM Manifesto'', which she self-published in 1967, and for her attempt to murder artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas had a turbulent child ...
, author of the
S.C.U.M. Manifesto ''SCUM Manifesto'' is a radical feminist manifesto by Valerie Solanas, published in 1967. It argues that men have ruined the world, and that it is up to women to fix it. To achieve this goal, it suggests the formation of SCUM, an organization ded ...
and attempted assassin of
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
, died in room 202 of the Hotel Bristol, 56 Mason Street,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
Richard Ramirez Ricardo "Richard" Leyva Muñoz Ramirez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), dubbed the Night Stalker, the Valley Intruder (as his attacks were first clustered in the San Gabriel Valley), and the Walk-in Killer was an American serial kil ...
(a.k.a. Night Stalker) stayed in the same hotel, room 315, during his killing spree in 1985. The comedy film '' What's Up, Doc?'' (1972), starring
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
and
Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
, features the Hilton Hotel as the "Hotel Bristol, San Francisco". The famous Black Cat Bar was originally in the basement of this building, then named the Athens Hotel, from 1906 to 1921. The Black Cat was later located in North Beach at 710 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. * The Hotel Bristol, Oslo, was where, in November 1939,
Hans Ferdinand Mayer Hans Ferdinand Mayer (born 23 October 1895 in Pforzheim, Germany; died 18 October 1980 in Munich, West Germany) was a German mathematician and physicist. He was the author of the " Oslo Report", a major military intelligence leak which reveale ...
"a German scientist, who is on your side" wrote the
Oslo Report The Oslo Report was one of the most spectacular leaks in the history of military intelligence. Written by German mathematician and physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer on 1 and 2 November 1939 during a business trip to Oslo, Norway, it described several ...
, a major leak of technical information passed to the British. * Hotel Bristol, Warsaw opened in 1901 on
Krakowskie Przedmieście Krakowskie Przedmieście (, literally: ''Cracow Fore-town''; french: link=no, Faubourg de Cracovie), often abbreviated to Krakowskie, is one of the best known and most prestigious streets of Poland's capital Warsaw, surrounded by historic palaces ...
. Thoroughly refurbished in its original style in the 1990s it was reopened by
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, an event that forms the final chapter of her memoirs. * Hotel Bristol (Berlin) opened in 1891 and was destroyed in an air raid in 1943. It held the first international IAA (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung) motor show, in 1897, and was involved in the Krupp scandal, detailed in William Manchester's book on the arms manufacturer. * The five-star luxury hotel in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
opposite the
Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
House is one of the most exclusive hotels in Austria and was restructured by the hotelier Georg Hochfilzer. It has hosted many historical figures including Teddy Roosevelt. It was here that the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
and
Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
sojourned at the height of their affair, in 1936; the most sumptuous suite is named after him. In 1938, the hotel underwent
Aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
when its Jewish owner Samuel Schallinger was forced to sell his shares before being deported to
Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...
where he died. *
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
was accused of meeting with others to plot against Stalin in the Hotel Bristol (Copenhagen). An alibi was established in 1937 when the
Dewey Commission The Dewey Commission (officially the "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its chairman, th ...
showed that the hotel had burned down in 1917. * The Le Bristol Hotel (Beirut), is one of the most exclusive hotels in Beirut where the Lebanese Independence from the occupying Syrian military force was prepared in 2005. *
Hotel Bristol, Belgrade Hotel Bristol ( sr, Хотел Бристол) is one of the oldest hotels in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Built in 1912, it is an anthological exemplar of the modern architecture in Belgrade and represents the pinnacle of the Secession archit ...
, opened in 1912; the architectural characteristics of the building are highly regarded: it is qualified as an anthological example of the modern architecture in Belgrade and the pinnacle of the
Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
architecture in the city. It was declared a
cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...
in 1987.


Notable hotels called Bristol Hotel or Hotel Bristol

* Bristol Hotel, Mar del Plata, Argentina * Hotel Bristol, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Hotel Bristol (Copenhagen), Denmark *
Hôtel Le Bristol Paris Hôtel Le Bristol is a five-star hotel located in Paris, France, at 112 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Hôtel Le Bristol opened in 1925 and is famous for its historic architecture. The hotel is part of the Oetker Collection, Masterpiece Hotels, ...
, France * Hotel Bristol (Berlin), Germany * Bristol Hotel, Gibraltar * Le Bristol Hotel Beirut, Lebanon * Hotel Bristol (Oslo), Norway * Hotel Bristol, Warsaw, Poland *
Hotel Bristol, Belgrade Hotel Bristol ( sr, Хотел Бристол) is one of the oldest hotels in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Built in 1912, it is an anthological exemplar of the modern architecture in Belgrade and represents the pinnacle of the Secession archit ...
, Serbia * Bristol Hotel, Odessa, Ukraine


References


External links

*
Hotel Bristol Vienna
', by Andreas Augustin, {{ISBN, 978-3-900692-11-7, published 2008 *
The Earl of Bristol Didn't Sleep Here, But the Hotel Might Be Named After Him
', Wall Street Journal, Sept 27, 2008. *
All the Bristol Hotels in the World
' by Roger Williams (Bristol Book Publishing, 2017) *
Hotel Bristol Stories
' by Roger Williams (Bristol Book Publishing, 2017) *

', Telegraph (Travel), 15 April 2000. * ''The Mitred Earl: An Eighteenth-Century Eccentric'' by Brian Fothergill (Faber & Faber 1974) * ''The Arms of Krupp'' by William Manchester, details corruption in the Berlin Bristol (Little, Brown, 1968) * ''The Earl Bishop, the life of Frederick Hervey, Bishop of Derry, Earl of Bristol'' by William Shakespeare Childe-Pemberton, Hurst & Blackett, London, 1924 *
Vienna's tourist trail of plunder
', Guardian (World News), 21 May 2002.
Bristol Hotel in Campbell California
Hotels