HOTEL FIT FOR A KING
Choquant! Commoners will soon be sleeping in an annex of the Château de Versailles, when the Hôtel du Grand Contrôle, built in the late 17th century for the Duc de Beauvillier and designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Louis XIV’s favorite architect, is turned into a 23-room luxury hotel. The unheated building, which once housed royal financial advisers and had been used as an officer’s mess until 2006, was falling into a state of ruin. Some of the rooms, which will cost up to €600 a night, will have views of the château’s Orangery. The company Ivy International will transform the building into a hotel, expected to open at the end of 2011, at a cost of €5.5 million.
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