Tourism took off in the 1850s, and by the end of the 19th century, in 1881, two Swiss pioneers from Montreux Alexandre Emery[2] and Ami Chessex bought the Hotel du Cygne (built in 1837).

[3] Swiss architect Eugène Jost built the Palace[4] in a record time of 18 months and the hotel opened on March 19, 1906.

A sports hall was built in 1911 to entertain guests during the day: The Pavillon, housed a tea room, a skating rink and a shooting range,[6] tennis tournaments took place on the lawn.

[15] The hotel's Belle époque decor was selected for some film sequences by Peter Ustinov (Lady L - 1964), The BBC and Luc Besson productions (Kiss of the Dragon - 2001).

[16] The hotel continues to be the venue for conferences,[10][17] in May 2019, the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace hosted the Bilderberg Meeting.