Throughout the day, every day, brightly restored paddle steamers pootle by from the past, tooting and puffing to signal that it’s not only Swiss trains that run on time. “It’s not”, I thought, looking out over the sparkling blue waters. Across the water from me were the mountains of the Chablais Massif, a dramatic landscape indeed, but one which Brookner describes as unrelentingly monochrome. But when Anita Brookner turned up to write her novel, about a writer called Edith Hope staying in the hotel, it didn’t seem to be quite so pleasing to the eye. The Hotel sits on the lakeshore, its proper name now ‘Grand Hotel du Lac’ after a couple of refurbs to rejuvenate the elegant decor. It’s no accident that events take place as winter is setting in, swaddling the characters in cold, dank mists, contrasting sharply with my summery outlook. I didn’t expect a guide book, but Brookner’s narrative is grey, deliberately so, mulling over deceits and mores, drawing succour from the foibles of fictionalized guests. On a bright sunny day, lounging by the pool, I dipped in for a read. The book attracted further attention.īut when Anita Brookner turned up to write her novel, about a writer called Edith Hope staying in the hotel, it didn’t seem to be quite so pleasing to the eye It was only ever really famous for two things: Charlie Chaplin lived in exile for 25 years after the Americans wouldn’t allow him to return to Hollywood during the McCarthy era and Nestle, the chocolate to powdered milk conglomerate, was founded there and still thrives today. Montreux is too Monegasque for me, its shuttered apartment blocks looking as if they’re owned by the same people who’ve bought Knightsbridge, and don’t live there either, but Vevey just sits there, accommodating happy families who splash about in the lake’s clear waters.

This is Europe’s largest expanse of freshwater, dividing Switzerland from France, with the diplomat enclave of Geneva at one end, Montreux at the other.

The real Hotel du Lac is an elegant summer destination in Vevey, a jolly little resort that sits quietly towards the eastern end of Lake Geneva. Despite Martin Amis being that year’s shoo-in, it went and won the Booker Prize – bingo!īut hotel people should be careful what they wish for. Back in the 80’s, the Hotel du Lac – a Swiss property of which no-one had ever heard – unexpectedly found itself catapulted to international fame after Anita Brookner’s novel of the same name appeared.

Hotel du lac brookner