Louis XIV Slept Here…and now so can you, if you’re ready to pay big-ticket prices for a lavish night’s rest in quarters created in 17th and 18th-century buildings. A new hotel, Le Grand Contrôle, will open next spring on the grounds of the Chateau of Versailles.
The 14-room hotel, with indoor pool, fitness center and an Alain Ducasse restaurant, will have rooms looking out over the Versailles grounds, with views of the Orangeries and fountains. It will be part of a small chain, the Airelles Collection, which operates a number of small luxurious lodgings.
If you do plan to stay, though, don’t expect a balanced view of history; the hotel-to-be’s website focuses on nostalgia for the Ancien Regime, saying that “The world looked on in awe as the emblematic Versailles estate shone like a beacon under the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette” and “The soul of bygone illustrious characters ensures an atmosphere of extraordinary emotion to this very day.” No mention that the royal pair ended their stay there being dragged away to Paris and the guillotine during the 1789 French Revolution.
