The uber-plush Burgenstock resort perched high above Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne provides the dramatic setting for Friday’s planned signing of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding to end nearly four months of war.<\/p>\n
The luxurious hotel complex — hard to access and therefore easy to seal off — was proposed by Washington and Tehran as well as their Pakistani and Qatari mediators, Switzerland said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The tranquil and picturesque location, with water on three sides, is well-accustomed to hosting world leaders, movie icons and peace talks.<\/p>\n
– Hepburn, Bond and Chaplin –<\/p>\n
The exclusive complex, in classic picture-postcard Switzerland scenery, has been welcoming leaders and the well-to-do and for more than 150 years.<\/p>\n
Charlie Chaplin met Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the resort in 1953, along with his daughter, the future Indian premier Indira Gandhi.<\/p>\n
Screen idol<\/p>\n
Audrey Hepburn married her first husband Mel Ferrer in the Burgenstock’s chapel in 1954, and they made the luxurious destination their home, living in the resort’s Villa Bethania.<\/p>\n
Italian actor Sophia Loren had a chalet on the Burgenstock — now the site of its Persian restaurant — while queen Ingrid of Denmark was among the hotel’s visitors.<\/p>\n
Sean Connery was based there when shooting the 1964 James Bond movie “Goldfinger”, spending a month at the resort and filming scenes on the mountain.<\/p>\n
Israeli prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir visited, while West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer spent July and August 1950 there.<\/p>\n
Jimmy Carter stayed there before becoming US president in 1977.<\/p>\n
– Location, location, location –<\/p>\n
Eight kilometres (five miles) from Lucerne in central Switzerland, the Burgenstock mountain dominates the centre of the lake.<\/p>\n
The mountain’s peak is 1,128 metres (3,700 feet) above sea level and the northern slope plunges nearly 700 metres down to Lake Lucerne.<\/p>\n
The Burgenstock resort sits 450 metres above the water on a ridge below the peak.<\/p>\n
It comprises four main hotel buildings, from the Belle Epoque to the ultra-modern, plus seven restaurants, along with other villas and residences.<\/p>\n
While the contemporary lake view royal suite could set guests back from 19,500 Swiss francs ($24,550) a night — before fees and taxes — a simple chalet room can cost 310 francs.<\/p>\n
– Breathtaking railways, lifts –<\/p>\n
The brainchild of sawmill business partners Franz Josef Bucher\u00a0and\u00a0Josef Durrer, the Grand Hotel opened in 1873. The Palace Hotel was added in 1903.<\/p>\n
In total, there are 360 rooms and suites, and up to 700 staff.<\/p>\n
The Hammetschwand Lift, a rocket-shaped metal lattice tower and the highest outdoor lift in Europe, shoots up 152 metres to the mountain summit.<\/p>\n
Katara Hospitality, owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, took over in 2007 and completed a revamp a decade later.<\/p>\n
Most regular guests arrive by the lengthy winding mountain road, or by catamaran from Lucerne followed by a funicular railway, 929 metres long and rising 434 metres.<\/p>\n
The Buochs Airport at the foot of the mountain can also take private jets and helicopters.<\/p>\n
– Peace talks –<\/p>\n
Friday’s signing will not be the the first time world issues have been thrashed out at the Burgenstock.<\/p>\n
In June 2024, world leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries held a two-day summit dedicated to resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
They backed Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, and the need for eventual talks with Russia on ending the war — but left the key questions of how and when unresolved.<\/p>\n
The resort hosted the secretive annual Bilderberg meeting of global power brokers in 1960, 1981 and 1995.<\/p>\n
The Sudanese government and the main rebel group agreed a six-month ceasefire in the Nuba Mountain region in 2002 at the Burgenstock, paving the way for a peace agreement in 2005.<\/p>\n
In 2004, four-way talks were held on a plan to reunify Cyprus, presided over by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, but failed to produce an agreement.<\/p>\n
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