January 09, 2019 - 2:58 AM
PARIS - Jeanne Augier, the millionaire owner of a luxury French Riviera hotel appreciated by celebrities and royalty, has died. She was 95.
The Hotel Negresco in Nice announced in a statement that Augier died on Monday, after taking over the hotel in 1957 and working to "extend its influence throughout France and the world."
Flags hanging above the hotel flew at half-staff Wednesday in an extended mourning period declared by the hotel.
The hotel's art nouveau facade and pink dome dominate the elegant Promenade des Anglais on the Nice shore. It's known both for its glamorous guests and thousands of works of valuable art and antique furniture collected by Augier.
Augier died without heirs, and legal disputes are reportedly underway about what will happen to the hotel.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019