Ever dreamed of sleeping in the Palace of Versailles? It looks like you'll get your chance in about a year. Officials announced a plan to convert a building at one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions into a 23-bedroom luxury hotel earlier this week, Agence France Presse reports.
"It's a pioneering initiative," Jean-Jacques Aillagon, president of the Chateau de Versailles, said.
* TWITTER: Follow Hotel Check-In
* PHOTO GALLERY: Ritz-Carlton, "world's tallest hotel"
The hotel will be built inside the Hotel du Grand Controle, an outlying building that has been the traditional home of the chateau's treasurers. Some of the room swill look out onto the "Orangerie" - the chateau's elaborate greenhouse - or the Swiss ornamental lake, the story says. It's expected to open in late 2011. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site that's deemed one of the crowning achievements of 18th-century French art, the story notes.
Plan not without controversy
The hotel will be turned over to a private, Belgian company, which will operate the hotel and pay a portion of its profits to the site as rent, the story says. The building will first undergo a $7.3 million renovation, led by historic monuments architect-in-chief Frederic Didier.
In November 2009, France's culture and tourism ministers agreed to encourage the economic and touristic development of French heritage sites. See the article for more information.
Given the role of a private company, however, the plan has is not universally embraced in France.
According to France24, the motive to make money isn't a good enough reason to turn over one of France's most prized cultural possessions to a company.
Philippe Revault, a professor at the Paris School of Architecture, told France24: