Palace of Versailles to Open Hotel

Part of France’s Versailles palace is to be turned into a luxury hotel, marking an unusual transfer of French public heritage into the private sector, France 24 TV network reported.

The project, to be carried out by Belgium's Ivy International SA, is expected to turn the Hotel du Grand Controle into a 23-bedroom hotel that will open in late 2011.

President of the Chateau de Versailles Jean-Jacques Aillagon told reporters Tuesday that the development was “a pioneering initiative” intended to save the building, which was “in a very dilapidated state.”

The palace was built in the 1680s by architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart and the renovation -- expected to cost about $7.3 million -- will be carried out by chief architect for historic monuments Fredric Didier.

Ivy will lease the Versailles building over the next 30 years, paying back a portion of the hotel's profits as "rent" to the palace.

The hotel project has been made possible by a 2009 accord between the French Culture Ministry and the Tourism Department designed to spark the economic development of historic sites and monuments, according to France 24.

But not everyone is pleased with the arrangement.

"Once again, it’s economic logic that wins out. In the name of profitability and lack of finances, they’re gambling with a public possession, which by definition is inalienable and must remain accessible to all citizens," Philippe Revault, a professor at the Paris School of Architecture, told the network.