Welcome to the Geneva hotel devoted to Swiss comics

The reception area of the ibis Styles Hotel in Carouge sets the tone from the outset. IBIS

Unique in Switzerland and in the world, the ibis Styles Hotel in Carouge, canton Geneva, is entirely dedicated to comics. The drawings on the wall paper in the rooms were created by stars of the Swiss comic strip world. Take a guided tour.

There are seven of them: Wazem, Buche, Tom Tirabosco, Exem, Albertine, Zep and Frederik Peeters. All are internationally renowned cartoonists from Geneva who spearheaded a generation of cartoonists now in their fifties and sixties.

They are the heirs of Rodolphe Töpffer (1799-1846), a teacher and writer, but above all a cartoonist, also from Geneva, who is considered by Europeans, and even by Japanese manga fans, to be the father of the modern comic strip. The seven artists were chosen to decorate the walls of the reception area and the 119 rooms of the ibis Styles Hotel in Carouge, which opened in 2018.

Here we are in the hotel lobby on a sunny morning. The light streaming through the bay windows highlights the bright colours of the premises (pink and blue), enhanced by a huge fresco by Exem depicting famous Swiss comic strip characters.

The portrait of Rodolphe Töpffer, considered to be the father of the modern comic strip, adorns the walls of the Geneva hotel. IBIS

Some belong to the world of Rodolphe Töpffer. The ibis Styles Hotel pays tribute to Töpffer, whose self-portrait can be seen on a wall next to the hotel’s main entrance. With his pensive and amused eyes, Töppfer seems to be observing the premises.

Time to dream

Out with the real, which is often insipid. Make way for dreams! “That’s the theme our designers have been working on,” says Victoria Magnani, the hotel manager and our guide. She shows us Wazem’s drawings on the ground floor, before we take the lift up to the hotel’s six floors. Each floor is dedicated to an artist. Each artist has created, in their own style, two motifs that decorate two walls of each room.

The whole effect is breathtaking. There is plenty of room for the unusual, and for dreams. It has to be said that the hotel is one of a kind. “Some countries have hotels dedicated to comics. But what sets ours apart is the direct involvement of the artists who created the frescoes in the rooms especially for us. Their creations are not copies of their previous works,” Magnani explains.

Customers from all walks of life

Customers love the concept. “Those who don’t know about it are very surprised when they arrive. Others, comic book fans, come especially for the artists. We get everyone, even businessmen, and lots of families with children,” she says, pointing to Titeuf.

Zep’s comic strip icon, adored by children, is featured on the wallpaper in the room we’re visiting. On one, he takes to the skies on a cloud. On the other, he is an elf wandering through a forest.

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Rodolphe Töpffer can also be seen in the hotel’s salon. IBIS

Zep, best known for his hugely successful Titeuf series, was obviously one of the authors selected to illustrate the rooms at the ibis Styles hotel. IBIS

Tom Tirabosco’s technique is instantly recognisable, even on the wall of the bedroom he decorated. IBIS

The room dedicated to Albertine. IBIS

Comics are everywhere, right down to the placemats. IBIS

The hotel bar IBIS

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Tom Tirabosco has created a whimsical “Odyssey”. One of his frescoes depicts the head of a woman wearing a boat-shaped hat. A little man is sitting on it. He is reading. Is he Homer? We asked Tom Tirabosco by telephone. “My drawing is open to various readings,” he replied, amused.

BDFIL and Fumetto: a fine showcase

Switzerland’s renowned illustrators have worked hard for their reputation. “This country, although small in size, represents a very rich ecosystem in terms of comics, which justifies the success of our albums abroad. It’s true that artists in French-speaking Switzerland have benefited from the popularity of illustration in France and Belgium. But Switzerland, especially the French-speaking part, has also done a lot to encourage the ninth art [comics],” Tirabosco says.

Proof of this is the opening in Geneva in 2017 of the Ecole supérieure de bande dessinée et d’illustration (ESBDI), not to mention the Bachelor’s degree in illustration offered by the prestigious Haute école d’art et de design (HEAD), also based in Geneva.

German-speaking Switzerland also boasts a number of comics stars, including Thomas Ott and Anna Sommer, “but the scene in German-speaking Switzerland is a little less rich than in French-speaking Switzerland”, according to Tirabosco. He points out that Switzerland’s comic book festivals, such as BDFIL in Lausanne and Fumetto in Lucerne – to name but the best-known – consolidate the country’s role in the recognition of comics as an artform.

Only one woman

Of the seven artists commissioned to decorate the hotel, only one is a woman: Albertine. Her characters are ethereal, supernaturally light. Like the woman who flies away with her suitcase open, from which a small rocket and plants escape.

“To have been chosen by the hotel represents recognition in my eyes,” she says. “In my work, I have associated dreams and travel; the two are intimately linked and find a fitting place in a hotel.”

Albertine points out that there are many female cartoonists in French-speaking Switzerland who rival men in talent. “I’m thinking of Isabelle Pralong, for example, but there are others who are now between 30 and 40 years old – a well-trained and inventive young generation. I hope the ibis Styles Hotel will call on them in a few years when it comes to renewing the wallpaper in its rooms, as it plans to do.”

Edit by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from French by DeepL/ts