Athne Palace Hilton Bucharest

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Athne Palace Hilton Bucharest
The Athne Palace Hilton Bucharest is a historic luxury hotel in Bucharest, Romania opened in
11!" #t $as ar%ua&ly 'urope(s most notorious den of spies in the years leadin% up to World War ##,
and only sli%htly less so durin% the )old War"*1+
Contents
1 ,ocation
- History
. /otes
! References
0 'xternal links
Location
,ocated in the heart of Bucharest on 1tr" 'piscopiei at the corner of )alea 2ictoriei on the former
site of the Han 3herasi*-+ 4Han is Romanian for 5inn56, the hotel faces onto the small park in front
of the Romanian Athenaeum on Re7olution 18uare 4ori%inally Athenaeum 18uare, then Repu&lic
18uare6" #t did not ori%inally face onto a s8uare9 at the time the hotel $as &uilt, the space that is no$
a small park $as occupied &y the 1plendid Hotel, destroyed &y &om&in% on Au%ust -!, 1!!, and
there $ere a considera&le num&er of other &uildin%s on $hat is no$ the s8uare"*.+
History
The Athne Palace, desi%ned &y the French architect Thophile Bradeau, &uilt 11-:11!, and
moderni;ed 1.0:1.< &y =uiliu >arcu, $as the first &uildin% in Bucharest to use reinforced
concrete construction?*!+ dama%ed &y &om&in% in 1!!, durin% World War ##, it $as completely
remodeled in 1!0 and extended around 1@0, and a%ain dama%ed in the Romanian Re7olution of
1A 4some of $hose $orst 7iolence occurred in the s8uare immediately in front of the hotel6" #t
$as and remodeled yet a%ain &y Hilton #nternational in 10:1<"
=escri&in% the hotel as it looked in 1.A, A" ," 'asterman of ,ondon(s Daily Express and later of
the Daily Herald referred to its 5hea7ily ornate furnishin%s, mar&le and %old pillars, %reat %litterin%
chandeliers, and the deep settees placed $ell &ack in the recesses of the loun%e as if in7itin%
conspiracy"5*0+
New York Times forei%n correspondent )" ," 1ul;&er%er $rote in his memoir A Long Row of
Candles that as World War ## $as approachin%, he settled into the Athne Palace 5to enBoy my $ait
for $arC This $as a comforta&le esta&lishment $ith excellent ser7iceCa corrupt staff al$ays
seekin% to chan%e a customer(s money at &lackDmarket rates, and continual competition &y ladies of
easy or nonexistent 7irtue to share the $armth of a client(s &ed"5*@+ 5)ountess5 R" 3" Waldeck
$rote of the hotel in the same era, 5Here $as the heart of Bucharest, topo%raphically, artistically,
intellectually, politicallyEand, if you like, morally"5*@+ #t $as also home at the time to &oth British
spies and the 3estapo"*1+ A" ," 'asterman called it the 5most notorious cara7anserai in all 'urope"
Cthe meetin% place of the )ontinental spies, political conspirators, ad7enturers, concession
hunters, and financial manipulators" 5*0+
The hotel is a primary settin% in Fli7ia >annin%(s Balkan Trilogy",*<+ $hich $as later filmed as the
1A< BB) miniseries Fortnes of !ar, starrin% Genneth Brana%h and 'mma Thompson" The
miniseries $as not shot at the hotel, &ut in Hu%osla7ia"
#n 1!A the hotel $as nationali;ed &y the ne$ )ommunist %o7ernment, $ho famously &u%%ed
e7ery room, tapped e7ery phone 4and e7ery pay phone $ithin half a mile6, and staffed the entire
hotel $ith informers" =an Halpern $rites, 5The hotel(s %eneral director $as an underco7er colonel
in the 1ecuritate(s )ounterespiona%e =irectorate? the hotel(s deputy director $as a colonel in the
=#', the Romanian external intelli%ence or%ani;ation" The doormen did sur7eillance? the
housekeepin% staff photo%raphed all documents in the %uests( rooms" The prostitutes in the lo&&y
and in the &ar and in the ni%htclu& reported directly to their employers? the freeDspeakin% &ons
7i7ants and Romanian intellectuals han%in% around the caf, not to mention a num&er of the %uests,
had &een planted"5*1+
The hotel $as extended in the midD1@Is? the ne$ structure $as &uilt a$ay from the street side" The
proBect team, comprisin% architect /icolae Pruncu and en%ineers Radu >ircea and >ihai #onescu,
encountered se7ere technical difficulties in $hat concerned the &indin% of the old &uildin% $ith the
ne$ one"*A+
The %o7ernmentDrun Athne Palace closed in 1! and $as &ou%ht at auction &y Hilton
#nternational, $ho proceeded to do a J!- million reno7ation, reopenin% the hotel as the Athne
Palace Hilton Bucharest in 1<"*1+
Notes
1" Halpern"
-" #nHourPocket"com
." Halpern? 5,ist of /amesC5"
!" 3iurescu, p"1@@
0" 'asterman, p"--1"
@" )ited in Halpern"
<" http9KK$$$"romaniatourism"comK&ucharest"html
A" "nstitt #roie$t B$re ti , pp" @A, and A- 4appendix6
References
'asterman, A" ,", %ing Carol& Hitler& and Lpes$, 2ictor 3ollanc; ,td", ,ondon, 1!-
)onstantin )" 3iurescu, "storia B$re tilor' Din $ele mai (e$)i timpri p*n+ *n ,ilele
noastre, 'd" Pentru ,iteraturL, Bucharest, 1@@
"nstitt #roie$t B$re ti , Arta 3raficL, Bucharest, 1@A
=an Halpern, The Walls Ha7e 'ars, Tra(el and Leisre, Mune -II0
,ist of /ames and Places 'xplained9 The Athenee Palace Hotel, the 1plendid Hotel, in
B$)arest Between t)e !ars- A .odernity !it) Fringes, Romanian Academy ,i&rary,
accessed ! Manuary -II@"
)ream of the )rop D Athenee Palace Hilton on #nHourPocket"com" Accessed 1 >arch -II@
External links
Wikimedia )ommons has media related to Athne Palace"
Ffficial $e&site
Ffficial $e&pa%e at Hilton $e&site
)oordinates9 !!N-@O-<"<1P/ -@N0O!."IP'
)ate%ories9
Hotels in Bucharest
Hilton Hotels Q Resorts hotels
Hotel &uildin%s completed in 11!
Historic monuments in Bucharest
)alea 2ictoriei