The owner of Paris? famed luxury hotel, Le Crillon, is in talks with an American subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company to take over the management of the Champs Elys?e property, according to a report by French newspaper Les Echos.
A favourite haunt of celebrities visiting Paris, Le Crillon was bought for around 250m euros in 2010 by a member of the Saudi royal family, now believed to be in exclusive talks with the US Rosewood Hotels and Resorts over managing the former palace from spring 2015.
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts was bought by the Chinese firm New World Hospitality Group in 2011.
A deal is expected to be finalised by the end of June, Les Echos reports, with Rosewood favoured over Sofitel ? part of the French hotel giant Accor.
The hotel, which has 147 rooms and employs 360 staff, will undergo extensive two-year renovations from March 31?2013.
The Crillon was built in 1758 and 20 years later was the setting for a key treaty between the US and France.? In 1793, King Louis XVI was guillotined in the square in front of the hotel.