The Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hôtels (CIGH) was founded on 11 April 1894 as a subsidiary of the railway company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL). This hotel chain was established to provide the customers of CIWL with high quality accommodation before or after their train journey.

History

Georges Nagelmackers created the Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hotels to develop and operate luxury hotels throughout its trains' routes. Three hotels already operated by CIWL before 1894 were integrated in the hotel chain.

The CIGH operated most of King Ismail's palaces in Egypt before his abdication in 1879. It then remodeled the Gezirah Palace and opened it in 1894. The CIGH's instant expansion throughout Europe made it the first international hotel chain.

The CIGH had operated successfully for twenty years when World War I heavily affected the hotel business. CIGH had to sell or close many hotels and at the end of World War I only four hotels were operated by CIGH. After World War I, the CIGH wasn't regarded as a core business, and it wasn't until after World War II that the hotel business was revived.

Properties

Details and changes are in the article regarding the hotel. Hotel Place Country Management by CIGH Avenida Palace Lisbon 1891 Le Bosphorus Summer Palace Therapia 1894 Buffet de Lyon Lyon 1900 Buffet Terminus Oran 1914 Chateau Royal d'Ardenne Dinant 1900 Elysée Palace Paris 1896 Gezirah Palace Cairo 1894 Grand Hotel des Bains Cherbourg 1901 Grand Hotel International Brindisi 1893 Grand Hotel des Wagons-Lits Beijing 1904 Hotels et Bains de Hongrie Csorba 1903 Maloja Palace Maloja 1895 Pavillon de Bellevue Meudon 1899 Pera Palace Constantinople 1894 Hôtel de la Plage Ostend 1895 Quarnero Abbazia 1898 Riviera Palace Nice 1893 Riviera Palace Monte Carlo (Beausoleil, Alpes-Maritimes) 1899 Hôtel Royal Palace Ostend 1899 Shepheard's Hotel Cairo 1897 Hotel Terminus Bordeaux 1897 Hotel Terminus et Buffet Marseille 1900 Hotel Terminus Maritime Ostend 1913 Tunisia Palace Tunis 1902 Victoria Hotel Ismailia 1898

See also Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Georges Nagelmackers

References A. Mühl, 125 Jahre/Ans/Years CIWL, Freiburg 1998