Many vacationers have fond recollections of visits to a number of of the 80 Fairmont lodges and resorts dotting the globe, every one showcasing a singular model and character of its personal. These are additionally locations the place generations of households and mates have gathered to have a good time particular occasions—together with holidays, weddings, milestone birthdays, and anniversaries.
A brand new, outsized espresso desk ebook, Fairmont, Grand by Nature (Skira, 2022), captures the wealthy historical past of Fairmont Motels & Resorts in prose and footage, telling the tales of the many individuals who helped create and form the model—founders, architects and visitors which have included royalty, statespeople and celebrities.
With a preface written by Oscar-winning actress, Susan Sarandon, the quantity is split into three sections: Origins, Structure and Soul.
The writers, world vacationers Claire Wrathall and Claire-Marie Angelini-Thiennot, have completed a masterful job of gathering and assembling greater than 500 archival paperwork, classic photographs and posters, illustrations, and evocative pictures that enrich the textual content and assist inform the Fairmont story, which dates again to the late 1800s.
Fairmont Origins
The roots of the now-global chain are strongly Canadian, ensuing from a merger of the historic railway lodges of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the unique Fairmont Motels. Over time, extra iconic properties have been added to the resort portfolio (together with these of the Canadian Nationwide Railway), rising each in quantity and geographical attain.
Extra just lately, in 2016, Accor, one of many largest hospitality teams on this planet, acquired the Fairmont model. However for the reason that starting and nonetheless immediately, the scenic settings of the Canadian properties, each rural and concrete, couple luxurious with nature. Each can also be characterised by a robust sense of place.
Fairmont Structure
“For a constructing to change into a landmark, it must be architecturally important,” the authors write introducing the part on “Structure,” which describes the influences of greater than 300 years of architectural historical past. The types of the Fairmont assortment vary from rustic to modern, together with palaces and chateaux.
On this part, vignettes are offered of among the progressive architectural giants related to the Fairmont portfolio. They’ve included French architect Jean Nouvel, who designed the hanging exterior of The Grand Lodge Geneva; Frank Lloyd Wright, who lived at The Plaza in New York Metropolis from 1954 to 1959 whereas designing the Guggenheim Museum (whereas there, he redesigned the inside of his suite, which has change into often known as Taliesin III); Chinese language-American I.M. Pei, who designed the 26-story tower that’s now the Fairmont Singapore; and Japanese architect Minori Yamasaki, who designed the resort now often known as the Fairmont Century Plaza.
Fairmont Soul
The “Soul” part of the ebook is stuffed with photographs and anecdotes of luminaries who’ve handed by means of the doorways of Fairmont properties. Alfred Hitchcock was a “common” at a number of lodges and showcased them in lots of his movies. The Plaza, a Fairmont managed resort, was the setting of Roger Thornhill’s abduction in North by Northwest; Fairmont San Francisco seems in a scene in Vertigo; and Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec Metropolis (which opened in 1893), appeared in I Confess.
The Savoy in London, which opened in 1889, has hosted Queen Mary, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, Princess Diana, and Queen Elizabeth II. Extra just lately, Rihanna and Guccio Gucci have been on the similar resort.
Among the many scores of different Fairmont visitors depicted within the ebook are Martin Luther King, Jr, James Baldwin, Liza Minelli, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Mia Farrow, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Christian Dior, and Truman Capote. This part additionally chronicles how vogue and types modified over time.
A treasured souvenir
Fairmont, Grand by Nature will make an exquisite souvenir for anybody who has been lucky sufficient to have visited any of those properties however may also be a welcome present for somebody who nonetheless has them on their bucket listing.
Whether or not you learn the ebook in its entirety or flip by means of the pages, you’ll wish to reserve a room at a Fairmont property.