 The story of The Ritz-Carlton begins with Swiss hotelier César Ritz, who was well known in the hotel industry as the "king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings" and redefined luxury accommodation in Europe with his management of The Ritz in Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, among others.He and the renowned chef from his hotels, Auguste Escoffier, opened a la carte restaurants known as "Ritz-Carlton" on board the Hamburg-Amerika Line ocean liners SS "Amerika" in 1905 and SS "Imperator" in 1913.The restaurants on those ships ceased operating in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I.