Palace of Versailles to host luxury hotel

The Palace of Versailles (Paris) is to transform one of its satellite buildings into a luxury hotel, paving the way for a series of French projects aimed at exploiting the economic potential of listed buildings while securing their renovation. The palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site deemed one of the crowning achievements of 18th-century French art, is one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions.

The Hotel du Grand Controle, the traditional home of the chateau's treasurers, is to be converted into a luxury hotel. The opening of the 23-bedroom establishment, in which some rooms will look out onto the "Orangerie" - the chateau's elaborate greenhouse or the Swiss ornamental lake, is planned for late 2011. Built in the 1680s by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the 1,700 square-metre (18,000 square-feet) Hotel du Grand Controle served as an officers' mess until 2006. Famed for its Hall of Mirrors and home to the French court from 1682, the complex was transformed and expanded under the Sun King Louis XIV into a monument to royal grandeur and absolutism. It remained the official seat of power until the French Revolution in 1789, when Marie-Antoinette fled the palace via a secret passage. A concession has been granted to the Belgian company Ivy International SA, which is to renovate and develop the satellite building, which dates back to the 17th century, over 30 years. Ivy will pay for the renovation works, estimated at 5.5 million euros (7.3 million dollars), which will be led by historic monuments architect-in-chief Frederic Didier. The company will pay Versailles an annual fee to lease the building.