Athénée Palace Bucharest Hotel

This hotel was notorious as a spy den in the Second World War and Cold War. The Athénée Palace, designed by the French architect Théophile Bradeau, was built 1912–1914 in the Art Nouveau style. A. L. Easterman said of it "the most notorious caravanserai in all Europe. The meeting place of the Continental spies, political conspirators, adventurers, concession hunters, and financial manipulators. For a time it was home to both British spies and the Gestapo. After Communism, every room was bugged, every phone tapped - and every pay phone within half a mile - and staffed the entire hotel with informers. The hotel closed in 1994 and was bought at auction by Hilton International, who proceeded to do a $42 million renovation.