Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest is a historic luxury hotel in Bucharest, Romania opened in 1914. It was arguably Europe's most notorious den of spies in the years leading up to World War II, and only slightly less so during the Cold War.LocationLocated in the heart of Bucharest on Str. Episcopiei at the corner of Calea Victoriei on the former site of the Han Gherasi (Han is Romanian for "inn"), the hotel faces onto the small park in front of the Romanian Athenaeum on Revolution Square (originally Athenaeum Square, then Republic Square). It did not originally face onto a square: at the time the hotel was built, the space that is now a small park was occupied by the Splendid Hotel, destroyed by bombing on August 24, 1944, and there were a considerable number of other buildings on what is now the square.HistoryThe Athénée Palace, designed by the French architect Théophile Bradeau, was built 1912 - 1914 in the Art Nouveau style. It was completely modernized 1935 - 1937 by Duiliu Marcu, with the exterior redesigned in the Art Deco style. It was the first building in Bucharest to use reinforced concrete construction. Damaged by American air raids during World War II, in 1944, it was completely remodeled in 1945. A new wing was built behind the original hotel in 1965. The hotel's interiors were again remodeled in 1983. Again damaged in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (some of whose worst violence occurred in the square immediately in front of the hotel), it was remodeled again by Hilton International in 1995 - 1997. The hotel was sold to Ana Hotels SA in 2005, but continues to be managed by Hilton.