“I hope he is not going to die at my hotel!” Andreas Augustin

“I hope he is not going to die at my hotel!”

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For most of us the worst and certainly final of all nightmares is to die abroad. But some had made it a point to die at a certain place. History is full of these incidents. Some hotels become the departing point of the final journey. The horror of a hotelier is the customer, who has arrived to depart. In Austria one hotel even has its own cemetery.

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Raffles - Singapore’s icon is demolished Feuilleton

Raffles - Singapore’s icon is demolished

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Andreas Augustin is a hotel historian. Since 1986, he has been meticulously and devotedly researching the history of individual famous hotels and publishing a book about each. More than 60 books later, he is as active as ever and thinks back: It all began in Singapore.

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Pictures and Moods we like Style Book

Pictures and Moods we like

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Photography is key in presenting famous historic hotels. With the largest archives of historic images in hospitality industry we illustrate our books with legendary images. But contemporary photography is equally important as it presents the hotel in an other period - in our days and times.

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The Rise of the Swiss Grand Hotel (1) HOTELS

The Rise of the Swiss Grand Hotel (1)

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Geneva’s Hotel des Bergues is a restrained and elegant building and the oldest purpose-built hotel in Switzerland ...

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SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN Andreas Augustin

SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN

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Der Neue Guide für Schloss Schönbrunn … Wieder einmal haben sich Andreas und Carola Augustin auf ein Thema konzentriert, dass sie seit Jahrzehnten begleitet. Generationen-übergreifend - sozusagen! MEHR ...

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Breakfast with Philip Lewis Adrian Mourby

Breakfast with Philip Lewis

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Famoushotels author Adrian Mourby has "Breakfast with Philip Lewis“, the general manager of Oxford’s legendary and most famous hotel — The Randolph

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A HOTEL — LOST IN ATHENS Adrian Mourby

A HOTEL — LOST IN ATHENS

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“’Well … I’m not quite sure,’ Chester said. The Grande Bretagne was unquestionably the biggest and best hotel in Athens, but for that very reason, Chester felt wary about stopping there.” In the end the couple settle on The King’s Palace Hotel, which Highsmith described as “across a street at one side of the Grand Bretagne”.

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Trafalgar - beating heart of England Adrian Mourby

Trafalgar - beating heart of England

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If you want to know where the beating heart of England can be found, then Trafalgar Square is a good place to start. It has always seemed odd to me that, despite its pole position in the national psyche, Trafalgar Square is almost entirely devoid of hotels. Maybe I assign too much importance to hotels but I believe they are the crowning glory of any city piazza.

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A Palace on the Strand Adrian Mourby

A Palace on the Strand

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In 1900 visitors to London were advised by Baedeker to find a hotel on the Strand. The choice began with 700-room Hotel Cecil, then the Savoy and finally the Charing Cross Hotel. One hotel that was not explicitly recommended stood immediately opposite the Cecil. Haxell’s Family Hotel was a more modest three-storey proposition.

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Calling for Corona Memorabilia Andreas Augustin

Calling for Corona Memorabilia

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The Most Famous Hotels in the World, The Library of Hospitality, is calling for the submission of Corona related documents — in short all and everything documenting the events occurring during/because of Corona — hotel / restaurant / transport & tourism in general related times of 2019/2020.

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Feuilleton 398: Born to Survive Andreas Augustin

Feuilleton 398: Born to Survive

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Now that we have waited long enough for the situation to change, I believe the time has come to change the situation. Reopening hotels isn’t enough. People are hesitant to travel, people don’t want to fly, tourism industry is going to the bins.

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The Story of Trader Vic  — Bergeron, Victor J (1902-1984) Andreas Augustin

The Story of Trader Vic — Bergeron, Victor J (1902-1984)

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Victor J (Trader Vic) Bergeron was an irascible, one-legged genius, who founded a multimillion-dollar food and drink empire called Trader Vic’s. While everybody believed his restaurants originated in Polynesia, Victor was actually born in San Francisco. He had not lost his left leg to a shark, but amputated when he was six to prevent his death from tuberculosis of the knee.

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