[trip style = luxury]
If you've ever visited the former home palace of France's many Louis the... Kings, you know it's lavish, lovely and lush.There's no shabby in Versailles' version of chic.
For those of you who prefer a more luxurious trip style, this hotel-to-be is for you...
Fit for a King It was just announced last week that a private Belgian company will turn part of Versailles into a hotel as part of an initiative by France's Culture and Tourism Ministers for the economic and touristic development of French Heritage Sites. Slated to open at the end of 2011 {likely meaning 2012} the project will see a 23-room luxe hotel contructed in the existing Hotel du Grand Controle, the old site of the Chateau's treasurers.
Nitty-Gritty The renovation process is only estimated to cost 7.3 million. I say only, because by today's standards that's not much money when you're talking about a high-end hotel's {extensive} renovations. And while we're on the topic of finances, the future hotel's nightly rates have not yet been released, but it's likely they'll be akin to any removed boutique hotel near or part of an oft-visited monument. Expensive.
Either way, I wouldn't mind staying in a lesser version of the 17th-century French Monarchs' unrestrained excess at Versailles. Maybe the hotel will feature nightly galas with period costumes as the dress code? If so, I'm in.
[Via France24 & USA Today Travel]
[photo by buggolo]