‘The Block’ Reportedly To Renovate Hotel Where Vampire Gigolo Shane Chartres-Abbott Killed Victim
“The Block” is reportedly set to film next season at the infamous Hotel Saville, where self-proclaimed vampire prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott allegedly raped and murdered his victim in 2002.
According to the rumour, an upcoming season of the renovation show will be filmed at the rundown South Yarra hotel in Melbourne. The octagonal hotel was bought for $7.35 million by a local developer believed to be connected with the Nine Network.
The location, which has been sold with a permit for 51 properties and a car park, has been the scene of a brutal crime, in which a naked and bloodied woman was found in the shower room of her room in August 2002. She was unconscious, with a part of her tongue bitten off.
She was apparently rape and mutilated by Chartres-Abbott, a 28-year-old male prostitute who told his victim that he was a 200-year-old vampire who needed to drink blood to stay young.
The gigolo was gunned down outside his home in June 2003 just as he was travelling to the courthouse to face his charges.
There has been no confirmation or denial from “The Block” about the report.
“It’s a fantastic location for any future development and it will have fantastic city views,” real estate agent Ted Dwyer was quoted by the WA Today as saying, refusing to reveal if Channel Nine was involved in the sale.
The network’s communications director Victoria Buchnan said, “We don’t make any comment on any properties.”
“The Block” has concluded its eighth season in April, and is currently filming its ninth season titled “Glasshouse,” which is being filmed in Prahran, Victoria.
If the report is true, the season featuring Hotel Saville would not be aired until at least 2015.