In the heart of Bucharest, at the intersection of Calea Victoriei and Strada Episcopiei, stands the imposing InterContinental Athénée Palace. This luxury hotel, an Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by French architects Théophile Bradeau and Daniel Renard, was completed in 1914. But it is neither its grandeur, nor its Art Deco façade, nor even the marble that lines its lobby and colonnades that have made it famous.

The sumptuous hotel made history because it was one of the great theatres of espionage