Highlights of the hotel
history
At the beginning of the thirties, the situation
leads to changes in the management of the palace: René Leyvraz
sell the hotel in 1933 to the "National Union for the Mutual Insurance
companies for the Pension of Veterans", while a year later, Alban Dulong,
whose family is already the owner of the Hotel des Bains in Vichy and the Hotel
Montfleuri in Cannes, buys the business back. In 1939, the war puts an end to
the activity (requisitioning, members of the Resistance’s headquarter). In
1947, the Imperial Palace which has suffered a lot during these years of war,
is restored. In 1949, it welcomes during 6 months the Tariff and Trade
Conference of the ONU.
But the respite will be short-lived… In the
Fifties, the first signs of decline appear ; the hotel begins to lose money and
lives its last seasons.
In 1958, to keep the Imperial Palace on an even
keel, the owners decide to sell the hotel as an apartment building. However,
the City is opposed to this venture and
decides to transform the area as green spaces, being afraid that this exceptional site might disappear,as the true emblem of the city.