The InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest is a historic luxury hotel opposite the Royal Palace on Victory Avenue in central Bucharest.
The Athenee Palace was built between 1912 and 1914 on the site of the former Gherasi Inn. The building was designed in the Art Nouveau style by the French architect Théophile Bradeau and it was the first building in Bucharest that was constructed with reinforced concrete. Between 1935 and 1937, the hotel was modernized and the exterior decorated in an Art Deco style by the architect Duiliu Marcu.
The hotel was also known as a den of spies and housed British spies as well as members of the Gestapo. During an American bombing in 1944, the hotel was heavily damaged, but in 1945 it was restored again. Next to the hotel, on the current square and park in front of the Romanian Athenaeum were also buildings, including the Splendid Hotel. However, those buildings didn’t survive the World War II bombings and were therefore demolished completely.
In 1948, the Athenee Palace was nationalized under the new communist regime who bugged every room before reopening it as a state hotel. All phones in the hotel and every pay phone in the nearby area were tapped and the hotel was staffed by informers, including the general director who was an undercover colonel of the Securitate, Romania’s secret service. Housekeeping staff was also ordered to take photos of guests’ documents and other belongings and even a number of guests had been planted to spy on other guests.
In 1965, a new wing was added behind the original hotel and in 1983 the hotel’s interior was remodeled. During the 1989 Revolution which took place on the current Revolution Square and the surrounding streets, the hotel was damaged by the violence and ultimately had to close.
Between 1995 and 1997, the hotel underwent a major renovation and reopened in 1997 as a Hilton hotel. Since 1 January 2023, the hotel has been managed by the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) under the name InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest.
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