Marketing Success: Sisi - the Travelling Empress

( words)

By Andreas Augustin

Opening Paragraph

The arrival of a truly famous visitor can leave an indelible mark on a hotel's history and influence its success, given the right strategy, marketing plan, or simply enough patience—say, around 100 years. Reid's Hotel on Madeira, Portugal, waited 114 years to confirm the presence of a guest who could become one of its greatest marketing assets. Despite a long list of royal visitors, Nobel Prize winners, and celebrities, one mysterious guest's arrival had remained a myth for a century.

To put an end to all rumours:

In 1986, we saved Raffles Hotel Singapore from demolition by discovering its original building plans. We restored the Metropole in Hanoi's historic identity and serve as "house-historians" for over 400 Select Member Hotels worldwide. Now, we were called to Reid's Hotel on Madeira. General Manager Sandro Fabris and his wife, Doris, the PR head, sought to confirm the rumored stay of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi.

Our team initially tried to prove whether Empress Elisabeth (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) had stayed at Reid's at all. Contradictions suggested she may have stayed at a nearby bungalow or elsewhere. Our research led us to local newspaper archives, some newly digitized, and involved leading historians. Portuguese newspaper articles from 1893 revealed that Elisabeth had booked a suite at "Mr. Reid's New Hotel" over Christmas 1893, planning a 10-day visit.

Elisabeth's life changed after the death of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, in 1889, an event known as Mayerling. This tragedy led her to travel extensively across Europe and the Mediterranean. Elisabeth's distinctive attire and reclusive behavior became legendary. Avoiding Vienna, she preferred destinations like Cap Martin, Lake Geneva, Bad Ischl, and Corfu, visiting places like Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Portugal. Travel became both a passion and an escape for her.

Empress Elisabeth at Reid’s.
By M. Markowski

Arrival Confirmed!

On 24 December 1893, her 56th birthday, Empress Elisabeth of Austria arrived in Funchal, Madeira, aboard the steamer Greif. Greeted by British Navy ships with an imperial salute, she stayed at Reid's Hotel for several weeks in a ground-floor suite. 

Through the efforts of local Madeira archives and the Austrian Court archives in Vienna, we confirmed her stay. Correspondence between Elisabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph increased during this period, reflecting a platonic and warm relationship. In his letters, Franz Joseph expressed pleasure at her weight gain, noting the tempting cuisine at Reid's.

Marketing Efforts

Elisabeth, often compared to Diana, Princess of Wales, is a 19th-century icon and free spirit who defied court protocol. She has inspired filmmakers, theatrical producers, and now, hoteliers.

Few photos exist of Elisabeth in her later years, taken by photographers who caught her unawares. In the tradition of historical art, we commissioned artist Manfred Markowski to depict Elisabeth at Reid's. Her suite still exists, and we plan to establish a "Sisi" Suite to enhance Reid's historical authenticity.

Tea At Reid's - An Afternoon Tea Companion, was the first book to mention all these details. It was published in 2008. And the collated history of Reid's Hotel (needless to mention - with an exclusive report about the exiting research results) came out in 2009 (REID'S PALACE HOTEL, MADEIRA in the library of THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD®).

G.B. Shaw and Sir Winston Churchill already have their names on the doors of two fantastic suites at the hotel. Now the Empress of Austria "follows suite", so to say.

Andreas Augustin

Other hotels connected to Empress Elisabeth:

Sacher Vienna: her supplier of fine chocolate cakes.
Cairo - during her stay: Shepheard's Hotel,  (no longer in existence) 
Norfolk Coast, Cromer, during her stay: Tucker's hotel (no longer in existence) 
Zurich - Baur au Lac, 1864, 1867 and 1894
Geneva - during her stay: Beau Rivage, here she died, stabbed to death in front of the hotel.

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*Manfred Markowski, the cover artist: