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Plans for new Palace of Versailles luxury hotel: Why the French take their palace hotels so seriously

TIME : 2016/2/26 18:18:01

Marie Antoinette would approve.    

Her beloved Palace of Versailles is about to become a hotel. Or part of it, at least. Palace management is tendering the opportunity to convert three of the palace buildings into a luxury hotel. Bidding closes September 14. (So hurry!)    

The three 17th century buildings, which have fallen into disrepair, include Le Grand Controle, which the Ministry of Finance occupied in the 18th century. It's unlikely the extravagant Queen ever visited that office but I bet the halls rang with curses about her overspending.     

It's not easy to convert a World Heritage Site into a hotel. In fact, a Belgian consortium had the contract for a hotel at Versailles from 2012 but couldn't make it work. The plan was for a five-star hotel with 23 rooms to be called Hotel du Grand Controle, which would have views of  Louis XIV's beautiful Orangerie and its 200-year-old pomegranate, lemon and orange trees.     

The winning bidder this month can expect that renovations will conservatively cost up to $US8 million ($11.42 million). The lease is for 60 years and part of the profits must go to the palace. The winner will also have to deal with the various historic buildings departments of the French government – not an easy task, as the Peninsula Group discovered when it recently renovated a grand 16th arrondissement hotel at the cost of   $1.86 billion.     

The French take their palace hotels seriously. The coveted title "Palace Hotel" belonged to only six four-star Parisian hotels until 2010 – The Crillon, The Ritz, the Plaza Athenee, Le Bristol, Le George V and Le Meurice. These hotels have historical significance and the kind of grand opulence one easily identifies with the concept of "palace" (plus a few kings, queens and presidents have slept in them over the centuries.)     

In 2010 the French government decided to shake up the four-star system and bestow a five-star rating on the best of the country's hotels. The ne plus ultra would be hotels anointed "Palace Hotel" and given five stars in line with the international standard.  Shock, horreur – an American-owned chain hotel, the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome, was awarded palace status. Worse still, The Ritz, The Crillon and the Four Seasons George V were left off the list. Later, after much outcry, the trio gained their five stars, with the Raffles Le Royal Monceau​ a new addition.     

The "Asian invasion" of Paris (partly a Middle Eastern invasion) over the past few years has seen several non-European chains open extravagant hotels that rival their traditional competitors. These hotels include Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, which occupies an ornate 1928 Beaux Arts mansion, the Shangri-La Paris, housed in an 1896 mansion near the Seine, the Mandarin Oriental in a revamped art deco building on the fashionable Faubourg Saint-Honore and the new Peninsula Paris in the 1908 Hotel Majestic, which saw the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in its gilded salons.     

Opulently occupying a historic building isn't enough to qualify for five stars these days. Luxury is also defined by superb 21st century technology, perfect but charming service (something the chilly French palaces have not always mastered) and knockout interiors by a slew of superstar designers like Thierry Despont​ (the renovated Crillon​) or Philippe Starck​ (Le Royal Monceau).  It's no longer all about the gilt trip.     

In line with the new standards, the Plaza Athenee last year concluded an extensive upgrade and The Crillon and The Ritz will reopen later this year after being closed for massive renovations.    

The Crillon will open as a Rosewood Hotel with suites by Karl Lagerfeld. The Ritz has been under scaffolding since August 2102, and everyone is curious to see if Thierry Despont's new interiors will retain the atmosphere of the hotel that Hemingway and Chanel both loved. The Crillon is adding an indoor pool and spa and the Ritz a garden restaurant with a retractable roof.     

I've stayed in most of the palace hotels and all of the four newcomers. They offer a special, emotional experience, a combination of wallowing in sumptuousness and walking through history. The Asian hotels have taught the Parisians a lot about personalised service. The best city in the world for hotels just got a lot better.     

So, will we be staying at Versailles any time soon? And will it be luxurious enough to be designated an actual Palace Hotel rather than merely a hotel in a palace?     

Only several million dollars will give us an answer.