Bao Dai Palace No.1 in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat is to be upgraded into a resort accommodating a hotel, villas and a restaurant-conference area.

The upgrade is called King Palace project invested by Hoan Cau Da Lat company, an affiliate of Hoan Cau Group, at a total cost of 700 billion VND (32.6 million USD).

It stretches across 182,000 sq.m covering the restoration of Bao Dai Palace No. I premises, a nearby guest house area, a semicircle lake and garden.

New amenities include 27 villas of different kinds, a 500-800 seat restaurant-conference area and a hotel with 150-200 rooms.

In November 2014, the Hoan Cau Da Lat company splashed out 100 billion VND (4.6 million USD) on repairs in and outside the Palace in anticipation of the 2015 New Year holiday.

Situated in a romantic hill surrounded by pine forests, Bao Dai Palace No. I, an ancient and magnificent building, was built by a wealthy French official in 1940. Later in August 1949, Chief of State of the South Vietnam Bao Dai bought the villa and renovated it into a headquarters and workplace for his officials.

Under the Ngo Dinh Diem administration, the Palace served as a private Presidential residence. It was later used as a resting place for heads of state of the Saigon regime.

After the fall of Saigon, the Palace was transferred to local enterprises for tourism purposes but proved ineffective. In the past ten years, the Palace has become dilapidated and is not benefitting local tourism.-VNA