Royat-Palace hôtel

English translation

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History

Located in the heart of the thermal district in Royat, the Royat-Palace was built between 1909 and 1910, in elevation of an existing hotel, the Splendid-hôtel. The latter was purchased in 1901 by brothers Joseph and Alexandre Agid who decided to construct a palace, modelled on the palaces of the French Riviera. The Agid brothers indeed had great experience in luxury hospitality: after being employed by major London hotels, they took the direction of several Nice hotels. First director of the Riviera Palace, Joseph took the direction of the Winter Palace in Nice in 1906. The activities of the two brothers were shared between the establishments in Nice and Royat, which operated in a complementary manner, winter in Nice, summer in Royat. The Royat-Palace was the work of architect Charles Dalmas. The creation of the Royat-Palace was his only hotel project in Auvergne, whereas he was the author of numerous hotels and palaces in Cannes and Nice between 1904 and 1927, including the famous Carlton hotel in Cannes. The Royat-Palace was inaugurated on 20 June 1910 and immediately enjoyed great success. Several distinguished guests, including the President of the Republic Armand Fallières, came to stay there. During the First World War, the hotel was used as a military hospital and then as American headquarters. Following the acquisition of several building lots adjacent to the Royat-Palace, the Agid brothers enlarged the Royat-Palace in 1919. It was Louis Jarrier, an architect from Clermont, who was in charge of the enlargement work. He notably created a passage allowing clients to exit from the rear of the building, modified the stairwell, created new lift grilles, and enlarged the building at the rear east corner. At the time of the Second World War, the Palace was again converted into a military hospital as well as offices of the government administration in the free zone. After the war, it experienced lower attendance, although it remained an emblematic palace of the thermal resort. In 1953, it was reduced by its lower section which became the hotel l'Hermitage, while the upper section continued its activity as the Royat-Palace. In 1958, it closed permanently and was converted into a condominium.

Description

Built in elevation of an existing building, the plan of the Royat-Palace had to take advantage of the existing structure and a constrained plot. Charles Dalmas preserved the lower section of the Palace which he refaced and added balconies to each window. He heightened the existing building by five levels, constructed set back from the first. This section constitutes the current condominium "Royat-Palace". Initially, the building was composed of a large terrace and a covered gallery on the first level, and four symmetrical storeys. The façade comprises fifteen bays, with an alternation between flat bays and oriel bays, slightly projecting. Five oriel bays punctuate the façade. They are surmounted by round-arch entablements whose tympanum is decorated with a central medallion and a leafy frieze. Their uppermost openings are also surmounted by a staff decoration with a woman's head styled with a chignon. This type of decoration is typical of Charles Dalmas's architectural achievements. Currently, access to the Royat-Palace is from the rear of the building, that is to say by the former client exit. A long corridor crosses the former grand hall and allows access to the stairwell. Several elements of the hall and the stairwell have been preserved, such as the frize decorations of the hall, the lift doors, the three ovoid oculi in Saint-Gobain glass, the stair handrails as well as the skylight of the stairwell.