Post 15. First Hotel Bella-Tola

The centre of the village is made up largely of masonry houses. Part of this large building with four floors housed the first Hotel Bella Tola, whose foundation in stone was laid in the spring of 1859.

During the night of July 1 to July 2 1858, a fire ravaged the village of Saint-Luc for the second time. The reconstruction of the village core absolutely had to be in masonry. The village people consecrated the autumn of 1858 to the evacuation of burnt remnants, and to the preparation and transport of construction materials.
At the request of the parish priest, who until that time hosted guests, Pierre Pont (1831- 1912), after an internship at the Hotel des Alpes in Leukerbad, opened the first Hotel Bella-Tola in this big house. Pierre Pont, a mountain farmer and winemaker, was also a mountain guide and natural therapist, President of the village and a Deputy in the Valais Grand Council. The first register of the first Hotel Bella-Tola confirms its opening on July 13, 1860 and carries the signatures of the distinguished members of the Swiss Alpine Club from the Geneva section.

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