Cristiano Ronaldo’s luxury Paris hotel won’t open for another FOUR years

Cristiano Ronaldo’s pet project to build a lavish new luxury hotel in Paris has suffered a series of delays and may not finally open for four years, MailOnline has learned.

The £53 million four-star hotel, on the left bank of the River Seine near Austerlitz train station, was originally set to open in 2021, so it will be at least six years behind schedule when it finally welcomes guests.

Construction on the hotel has begun late in recent weeks, which is expected to feature 210 rooms, a rooftop bar and a swimming pool with panoramic views of the French capital.

The legendary Portuguese star was still playing for Juventus when it should have opened. He has since returned to – and feuded with – Manchester United and now plays in Saudi Arabia, but will almost certainly retire when it finally opens its doors.

Well-placed sources said the Covid pandemic and lockdown were also factors in the slowdown.

The £53 million four-star hotel on the banks of the River Seine offers panoramic views of Paris

Experts said the delay was a blow to Ronaldo, who may well be retired by the time it opens

But a Paris hotel company insider said: “The delays must come as a blow to Ronaldo, who is reportedly personally invested in this project – and if he will be long retired when it opens, it may not get the same international attention.” pull like a big one at the peak. of his powers would have either.”

The opening target for 2021 was unveiled five years ago when details of the project were unveiled by the Pestana Group, a Madeira-based tourism and leisure multinational, which is working on the hotel in a 50/50 partnership with Ronaldo’s CR7 brand.

The delays are said to have been caused in part by a public inquiry following the filing of the hotel plans in May 2019 and subsequent challenges by city politicians.

Once it finally opens, the hotel will be Cristiano’s first in France and his sixth in the world with its partners at the Pestana Hotel Group, owned by millionaire Dionisio Pestana and founded by his father Manuel.

But back to at least 2027, a year after the next World Cup, when the football star will almost certainly have ended his glittering international and club career and his old rival Lionel Messi will have left current club Paris Saint-Germain.

It has been described as the largest yet of the Pestana CR7 brand hotels, first launched seven years ago in Cristiano’s native Madeira before expanding to the capitals of Lisbon, Madrid, New York and Marrakech.

The hotel is part of an ambitious project called Austerlitz A7A8, which will eventually include a business park and student residence, as well as shops and 2,000 bicycle parking spaces.

An exterior view of the Pestana CR7 hotel in the Portuguese city of Lisbon that is already open

Ronaldo pictured in one of the rooms at the Pestana Hotel Palace in Lisbon in 2015

Cristiano, facing calls to be thrown out of Saudi Arabia, where he now plays his football after appearing to respond to Messi’s taunts from rival fans on Tuesday night by grabbing him by the crotch, said as his new hotel was on course for an opening in 2021: ‘It makes perfect sense for the Pestana CR7 brand to be implanted in Paris, one of the most visited cities in the world.

“It’s a destination that combines the brand’s perfect match of elegance and sophistication.”

The opening delay means the world’s highest paid sportsman, who signed for Saudi side Al-Nassr after his explosive Piers Morgan interview at the end of last November made him a Man United outcast, will take up residence in the mammoth new family home he is leaving building in Quinta da Marinha near Lisbon long before the first guests can check in.

The construction cost of his new Portuguese property, which will become Cristiano’s main retirement home with partner Georgina Rodriguez and their children, has reportedly skyrocketed to around £17 million due to his desire for perfection and rising material prices. But it is expected to be completed this summer.

He and his partner Georgina Rodriguez are currently building a gigantic family home on Quinta da Marinha

A video released to social media shows the veteran Portuguese striker appearing to be clutching his crotch after supporters chanted the name of his rival Lionel Messi following Al-Nassr’s 2-0 defeat

The clip shows Ronaldo appearing to be holding his genital area after fans chanted, “Messi! Messi!’

The bureaucratic issues that delayed the opening of the Paris hotel have been “completely ironed out,” according to a well-placed insider who said last night he saw little risk of the new date being postponed.

Ronaldo will not be the first footballing hotelier. His former Manchester United teammates Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are behind Hotel Football, which is in the shadow of Old Trafford.

In addition to opening hotels with the Pestana Group and expanding his real estate empire with the purchase of houses and apartments in Spain and Portugal in recent years, Cristiano has also dabbled in the hair transplant and gym business.

His net worth is estimated at £362 million pounds and his contract with his new club is worth an eye-watering £175 million a year.

Although his sister Elma Aveiro announced the closure of the Madeira clothing store CR7, named after the striker, at the beginning of his senior year, it did not affect online sales of CR7 branded clothing and accessories.

Georgina, 29, also has a bright future ahead of her having gone from a £10 an hour shop worker to a household name with nearly 50 million Instagram followers since the star couple met and started dating less than seven years ago.