Word: ritzes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...less civilized unit than the continent of Europe, has isolated districts in which urbanity and good manners are important. Manhattan is one such; it has a Ritz. Boston and Philadelphia-these two have been given a Ritz. Atlantic City is flashy, yet is permitted a Ritz. Last week it became known that one other city in the U. S. would achieve this monumental seal on its civic success. There was some doubt, however, which city this would be, that would outclass Berlin and cast shame on Tokyo. It might be Chicago. It might more probably be Los Angeles...
Other chambers of commerce might indeed come clamoring for a Ritz in their town. Knowing the principles of the founder of the Ritz Hotels, well-informed observers were sure such demands would be snubbed promptly and with proper severity...
...founder of the Ritz Hotels did not choose that curious monosyllable by chance; Ritz was his last name; his first, splendidly enough, was César. The son of a Swiss farmer, his first skirmish among European hostelries occurred when he opened a restaurant in Baden-Baden, the Kurhaus. He boasted that he never forgot a face. But the éclat which attached itself to his restaurant requires a more complete explanation. César Ritz read faces as well as remembering them; he was an instinctive & selective snob, one of those likeable snobs whose hauteur is inherent...
When a man has owned a smart restaurant for a few years he has enough friends to run a hotel. César Ritz bought the Minerva, in Baden Baden, and carried on the tradition of his Kurhaus. Later he bought more hotels and titled people stayed in them. César knew them all by name. When he opened the Carlton in London, he gave an elaborate banquet. The guests were all titled, with the exception of a few very rich Americans; one of these was a banker to whom M. Ritz extended, gratis, all the facilities...
...Ritz died 15 years ago. His widow now runs the Paris Ritz in the bar of which countless roustabouts have spent their leisure hours. Charlie Ritz, the one of César's two sons now living, has little of his father's interest in the hotel business, though it was last week rumored that he intends soon to share with his mother the management of the Ritz in Paris. An affable fellow, his mustache is waxed and he does not quite justify the magnificence of his last name...