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.The tranquil and picturesque location, with water on three sides, is well-accustomed to hosting world leaders, movie icons and peace talks. Hepburn, Bond and ChaplinThe exclusive complex, in classic picture-postcard Switzerland scenery, has been welcoming leaders and the well-to-do and for more than 150 years.Charlie Chaplin met Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the resort in 1953, along with his daughter, the future Indian premier Indira Gandhi.
The first hotel on the Burgenstock site opened in 1873 © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Screen idol 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.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.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.Israeli prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir visited, while West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer spent July and August 1950 there.Jimmy Carter stayed there before becoming US president in 1977.Location, location, locationEight kilometres (five miles) from Lucerne in central Switzerland, the Burgenstock mountain dominates the centre of the lake.
