Hotel Arbez Franco Suisse

History of boundary markers in the Principality of Arbezie

On the Rousses plateau, in the village of La Cure, lies perhaps the only hotel built straddling two borders. A story that dates back to December 1832 when the Swiss Confederation and Napoleon III's France signed the Treaty of Dappes to settle an old border dispute in the valley of the same name.

This was without accounting for the ingenious Ponthus, a 25-year-old man who already earned some income from smuggling and immediately understood the advantage of his field split in two by the newly shifted border. He quickly built a house with one facade in Switzerland and the other in France. In February 1863, the treaty was ratified, and its Article 7 stipulated that it "would not infringe upon rights acquired at the time of its ratification."
Nothing authorized the destruction of Ponthus' house, and the building became historic. Two markers were placed at the end of the construction. On the north face, the coat of arms of the canton of Vaud and the initials of Liberty and Homeland were engraved, while on the south face, "France" and the imperial eagle of the Second Empire.
Ponthus' flourishing business (hotel, tavern, grocery store) kept prospering and was taken over by his two sons, Alphonse and Raymond. But they quarreled... and sold the business in 1921 to Jules-Joseph Arbez. The Hôtel de la Frontière was renamed Hôtel Franco-Suisse, and it was the era of discovering skiing. Then came World War II; the demarcation line ran along the hotel, which was at the crossroads of neutral Switzerland, the free zone, and the occupied zone. The Germans lodged in the restaurant on the French side, while upstairs "in Switzerland," the son of Arbez, Max, head of a resistance network, hid liaison agents and RAF pilots and evacuated fugitives. In 2013, the Jura native was posthumously awarded the Righteous Among the Nations medal for saving Jews and resistance fighters.
Once peace returned, Switzerland sought to purchase the establishment. To no avail. Yet to resolve this customs puzzle, an agreement was reached: The French consider the hotel as being in Switzerland, and the Swiss consider it under French law. The extraterritoriality of the site became official, and the Arbezie was born (a term coined by Edgar Faure to designate the extraterritorial domain of the Arbez family). More seriously, this truly unique place also witnessed major events such as the Evian negotiations in the early 1960s.

The 10-room hotel is still managed by the Arbez family. After Max and his son Bernard, it is now the 4th generation, with Alexandre Peyron and his sister Bérénice Salino at the helm.
The staircase ascends from France to Switzerland, and at the 13th step—or is it the 7th as Max claimed?—one crosses the border. Thus, depending on the orientation of the rooms, guests sleep with their heads in Switzerland and their feet in France, as in rooms n°6 and n°9, or sleep in Switzerland and shower in France (room n°12). And when it's time to eat, everyone picks their country. On the French side, a brasserie-style table with generous dishes. On the Swiss side, a gastronomic restaurant with local flavors. And in the middle... the bar to bring everyone together.

To read: "L'Arbézie," published in 1997, by Maryse Obez-Arbez, Agence Vue editions.

From 89 EUR
Rates 2021, from €89 per night for two.
Breakfast, €9.50 (child €6.50)

2* hotel, 10 rooms from single to family.
Restaurant, annual closure in November

..:: Rates ::..
⊹ Room for 1 or 2 people, from €89
⊹ Room for 3 people, from €109
⊹ Rooms for 4 people (2 adults and 2 children), from €129
⊹ Room for 1 or 2 people, from €89
⊹ Room for 1 or 2 people, from €89

Note: All prices are provided for informational purposes only and must be confirmed directly with the establishment.
40 km from Geneva