SAFE ENVIRONMENTS
A History of Les Avants
The village of Les Avants was one of the first ski resorts in Switzerland. At the beginning of the 19th century, the resort experienced its initial touristic development with the construction of the first hotels by the Dufour family. This allowed Les Avants to become a fashionable winter sports resort where tourists indulged in novel activities such as skiing, sledding, bobsleigh riding and ice skating.
The village hosted the first Ice Hockey European Championship in 1910.
Les Avants lends its name to the Chemin de fer Les Avants – Sonloup, that was inaugurated in 1901 as the first stretch of the Montreux-Oberland Bernois railway. It connects Montreux to Les Avants and Sonloup. For many years the village was home to the world-famous opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, the conductor Richard Bonynge.
Grand Hotel Des Avants
Le Châtelard is set within a remarkable Belle Époque building constructed between 1873 and 1875 by Jean-Louis Dufour. Originally, it was a luxurious establishment known as the Grand Hotel des Avants, which welcomed distinguished guests such as Ernest Hemingway, who is said to have written parts of A Moveable Feast and A Farewell to Arms within its walls.
As one of Switzerland’s first ski resorts, the hotel offered exceptional modern comforts for its time, including hot and cold baths, and remained open year-round—an uncommon luxury in the late 19th century. At the turn of the century, the Dufour family expanded the hotel, doubling its size and developing the surrounding area, helping establish Les Avants as a renowned winter destination for international nobility.
Shortly before the Second World War, the hotel closed due to an economic downturn affecting the Montreux region. During the war, the building, along with others in the Riviera, was repurposed by the Swiss army as a refuge for wounded soldiers and Jewish refugees.
Châtelard School
After the war, the estate was acquired by Dorothy Braginton, who relocated her girls’ boarding school, Châtelard School, to these larger premises. Organized under the English educational system, the school welcomed students from around the world, including the future Queen of Greece, Anne-Marie. It closed its doors in 1975 following the sharp devaluation of the British pound.
In 1992, after nearly twenty years of abandonment, the property was purchased and restored by Oak International. That same year, Le Châtelard Academy was founded as a boarding school dedicated to teaching French and fostering strong human values in girls. Since then, the estate has gradually regained its former splendor through ongoing restoration efforts.
