You'd think they were planning to overthrow the government, the amount of secrecy involved in this new venture, but I can finally 'go public' on the building of a new hotel in Cantenac Brown.
The chateau, located in the appellation of Margaux, has been talking about this for years, and preliminary planning permission has now been granted. I know Jose, the director, fairly well, and he has sworn me to secrecy for well over 18 months, which I have abided by, because french planning permission is anyway notoriously difficult to get, and there's no story if it doesn't happen.
However, some (far more enterprising!!) journalist from the local newspaper went to the mayor's office in Margaux and looked at the plans, and now it's out of the bag... such is life behind the scenes of a story.
The chateau, a 3rd cru classι, has been owned by Syrian-born British investor Simon Halabi since 2006, when he bought it from previous owners AXA Millesimes, owners of Chateau Pichon Baron in Pauiilac and Chateau Suduiraud in Sauternes.
Plans lodged with the local town hall in Margaux reveal that Halabi is hoping to open a four star luxury hotel with 102 bedrooms, including 11 suites. The hotel will comprise both part of the existing structure with its red brick exterior that has been famously compared to an English boarding school and a new structure that is yet to be built. There will be a restaurant housed on the current terrace area, a pool, spa and gym, reception area for 500 people and a smaller bar/cafι.
Even when I called Jose with the fact that it had now been published, he was unwilling to give much more away. The plans have not been finalised and will inevitably be subject to change. We prefer to talk about this when it is reality, not speculation.... I wrote the story anyway... there is only so far you can go with being nice...
You can certainly imagine this is going to be a great hotel, as Halabi is no stranger to turning around properties. He owns multiple buildings in the UK, including the Shard of Glass on London Bridge and Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, which he is planning to turn into the UK's first 6-star hotel. He ranks 194 on Forbes Billionaire List 2007, and is valued at around £3 billion.
