{"id":3903,"date":"2024-08-02T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T13:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.laprairiehotel.ch\/lhotel\/historique-de-lhotel-la-prairie\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T17:01:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T16:01:42","slug":"history-of-hotel-la-prairie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.laprairiehotel.ch\/en\/lhotel\/history-of-hotel-la-prairie\/","title":{"rendered":"History of H\u00f4tel La Prairie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n <\/div>\n
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History of H\u00f4tel La Prairie<\/h2>\n

Cities often have a symbolic building. A kind of icon. A reference that is sometimes more sentimental than aesthetic. A place linked to significant personalities \u2014 or that has become so. Also to events. H\u00f4tel La Prairie is all of this at once.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, \u201cLa Prairie\u201d has not always experienced easy times, but it has always been able to exist thanks to the determination, commitment and above all the passion of three personalities: Otto Rohrer, Charles Decker and Jean-Claude Vagni\u00e8res. Three businessmen with no hotel training who, in turn, loved this place and made it one of the jewels of the region.<\/p>\n

Throughout history, the thermal spring of Yverdon has played an important role in the tourist and economic activities of this small provincial town, well located on the Swiss plateau. The evolution of La Prairie is closely linked to that of thermalism.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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1840<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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As not all spa guests could afford a stay at the hotel, in 1840 a boarding house, the first building of La Prairie, was built nearby.<\/p>\n

During this entire period, Pension Peytermann (La Prairie) lived through crises and revivals, in the shadow or in the sunshine of the baths.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1899<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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La Prairie (Pension Peytermann) retained this status until the arrival of a particularly dynamic new owner, Otto Rohrer, who wanted to restore splendour to the place. He was the first to perceive the potential offered by the 62,000 m\u00b2 park surrounding the original building.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1903<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Discovery of the La Prairie mineral spring, then called Yverdon water, which would later become Arkina.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1905-1910<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Otto Rohrer aimed to transform this boarding house into a true hotel. It was enlarged between 1905 and 1910, intended for a more affluent clientele.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1914-1918<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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The Great War (1914\u20131918) destroyed the European economy and thermalism was severely affected. H\u00f4tel des Bains was threatened with disappearance.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1921<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Puzant Masraff (an Armenian businessman) acquired half of Otto Rohrer\u2019s property in 1921 and developed the La Prairie spring, renamed Arkina, after a famous spring in Armenia.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1932<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Closure of H\u00f4tel des Bains in 1932. La Prairie became the only establishment available to spa guests coming to the Yverdon Baths.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1939-1945<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Although it welcomed few tourists during the great global conflict that devastated Europe, H\u00f4tel La Prairie accommodated many soldiers and later refugees.<\/p>\n

If La Prairie had long lived in the wake of the Baths, things would be different after the war. At the end of the conflict, the establishment was in a sad state.<\/p>\n

Despite the efforts of Otto Rohrer\u2019s successors, his family was unable to gather the necessary means to renovate the hotel.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1946<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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It was under these circumstances that Charles Decker bought the hotel in 1948. It became the place everyone talked about \u2014 the place where people passed through, dined and enjoyed themselves, the meeting point of Yverdon\u2019s high society, but also a place from which no one was excluded.<\/p>\n

Charles Decker hired Andr\u00e9 and Eva Curchod. Andr\u00e9 in the kitchen and his wife Eva at reception \u2014 a couple inseparable from the hotel\u2019s longest prosperous period.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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1974<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Jean-Paul Curchod took over the operation of La Prairie until the end of 1982.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Charles Decker (who died in 2004), then his heirs, entrusted the management to several successive operators, with varying degrees of success.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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2014<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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As the sky over this jewel of hospitality was turning grey, Jean-Claude Vagni\u00e8res took over the operation of H\u00f4tel La Prairie and purchased it in early 2015.<\/p>\n

He ensured a smooth transition with the existing staff, refined his strategy and prepared major renovation works aimed at bringing this historic establishment to a level never reached before.<\/p>\n

One can speak of a true reconstruction of a large part of the hotel.<\/p>\n

It now houses air-conditioned luxury rooms with spacious bathrooms, meeting rooms equipped with all technical facilities, and bright openings onto the park.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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2024<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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In May 2024, the Michoud family, already owners of H\u00f4tel du Th\u00e9\u00e2tre, joined forces with investor Marcus Weber to take over H\u00f4tel La Prairie in Yverdon-les-Bains. Driven by a family and local vision, this acquisition promises a new momentum for this emblematic establishment, combining tradition, elegance and dynamism.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

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