Hotel Stories: the Ritz Paris Founders César and Marie-Louise Ritz
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The Ritz Paris
From the outset, the Ritz Paris,one of the most iconic luxury hotels in the world, set new benchmarks for luxury and hospitality, drawing an elite clientele that included royalty, politicians, artists, and writers. The hotel's origins are deeply intertwined with the vision and standards of César Ritz, whose legacy continues to influence luxury hospitality today at Ritz-Carlton hotels worldwide.
AOC is exploring the history of Ritz Paris, the lives of people staying at the hotel and also its founders. I’m struck writing the first words with the idea of forming a timeline around great luxury brands. We have Louis Vuitton arriving in Paris as a young man with little money in 1837 and César Ritz arrived 30 years later. The Ritz Paris opened in 1898, the year after Guccio Gucci arrived in London in 1897, working as a bellhop at the Savoy Hotel.
I’m hoping to construct a master chart of all these great brands timelines in an effort to understand the world in which they operated and intersected with each other.
The images used in this introduction to the Ritz Paris come from two sources. The hotel images are new from the Ritz Hotel in 2024, located on a travel website. The fashion images are Rebecca Leigh Longendyke lensed by Erik Torstensson in a Holiday 2024 cashmere, denim collaboration Frame x Ritz Paris. This beautiful product remains available today on the Frame website.
Swiss Hotelier César Ritz
Born on February 23, 1850, in Niederwald, Switzerland, César Ritz came from a modest farming family as the youngest of thirteen children. His prospects for success dimmed, marked by academic difficulties and a failed apprenticeship as a sommelier due to his clumsiness.
Like a young Louis Vuitton, who arrived in Paris in 1837, César Ritz sought success in Paris 30 years later. In 1867, seven million people came to see Emperor Napoléon's answer to the challenge of the 1862 London International Exhibition. This event that would change the life of the future hotelier and founder of the modern Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
In Paris, Ritz began working in restaurants and hotels, gradually rising from waiter to maître d'hôtel. His interactions with high society, including figures like the future King Edward VII shaped his vision for luxury hotels.
A New Power Couple Is Born
A decade later in 1877, César Ritz married Marie-Louise Beck, whom he had met in Lucerne. Together they created a formidable partnership combining his business acumen with her impeccable sense of design.
Together the Ritz marriage enterprise acquired a luxury hotel in Trouvile-sur-Mer, a business venture that failed but taught the couple the crucial importance of the dining experience in great hotels. They leveraged their learnings into a relationship with renowned chef Auguste Escoffier, who is often credited with revolutionizing hotel dining with the kitchen brigade system.
Celebrating their 20-year wedding anniversary, César and Marie-Louise Ritz purchased two adjoining townhouses at the Place Vendôme, an area synonymous with luxury. Originally constructed in the early 18th century and designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the stately facade and classic French architecture of the townhouses remained largely intact.
The interiors of the townhouses were transformed to meet the couple’s meticulous standards.
Collaborating with the celebrated architect Charles Mewès, Ritz hoteliers ensured that the interior design reflected both opulence and comfort, marking a departure from the heavy and ornate styles of the period toward a more light and airy ambiance.
Mewès incorporated innovations such as en-suite bathrooms, unheard of at the time, along with gilded moldings, crystal chandeliers, and plush furnishings. This combination of modern amenities and classical style not only set new benchmarks in luxury hospitality but also made the Ritz an iconic symbol of Parisian sophistication and elegance.
Marie-Louise was responsible for many of the Ritz’s most distinctive features. She designed the wide staircases to accommodate ladies’ gowns and heels, and implemented indirect lighting for a softer atmosphere. She even selected the peach-coloured towels, chosen to flatter the complexion of the guests.
The Ritz Paris opened its doors on June 1, 1898, attracting Europe's elite from its earliest days.
There are many famous quotes about the Ritz but this one attracts our attention:
“All you really need to know about the Paris Ritz is this: by the middle of 1937, Coco Chanel was living in a handsome suite on the third floor, and the bartender – an intuitive mixologist named Frank Meier – had invented the Bloody Mary sixteen summers earlier to cure a Hemingway hangover.”
The Art of Living digs further into the history of The Ritz in our next chapter, including Marie-Louise’s decision to open a bar that welcomed women in The Ritz. That was a revolutionary act — even in Paris. ~ Anne
