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Les Ambassadeurs up for sale. Photograph: Rex Features
The home of Les Ambassadeurs, the London casino featured in the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and the Bond film Dr No, has been put up for sale. The building's owner, the Crown Estate, hopes to raise £50m by selling the freehold of the casino, known as Les A, which overlooks Hyde Park and charges up to £25,000 a year for membership.
The Crown Estate, which owns swathes of Regent Street and St James's, has owned the freehold since 1537. The Grade II* listed building with its French classical facade at 5 Hamilton Place in Mayfair dates from the early 19th century and was once home to the Rothschilds. It stands on the site of one of Henry VIII's hunting lodges.
Les Ambassadeurs is the gambling den of choice of Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, whose luck at the roulette table in late 2004 – including a win of £2m in a single night – forced the casino's then operator, London Clubs International, into a profit warning.
A few years later the retail billionaire considered buying the casino with sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley from its new owner, the Indonesian tobacco billionaire Putera Sampoerna.
Les Ambassadeurs was opened at Hanover Square in 1941 by businessman John Mills and relocated to Hamilton Place, off Park Lane, in 1950. He ran the casino until 1981 when the leasehold was bought by casino group London Clubs International. In 2006 the lease was sold to the Sampoerna family. It boasts a garden smoking area where players can enjoy a smoke while placing their bets.
The Crown Estate declined to comment.
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