Landmark Bucharest hotel Athénée Palace switches to InterContinental brand

Ana Hotels, owned by businessman George Copos, has signed a 20-year management contract with IHG Hotels & Resorts for the Athénée Palace hotel in downtown Bucharest, next to the Athenaeum.

Athénée Palace, so far affiliated with the Hilton chain, becomes InterContinental Athénée Palace Bucharest starting January 2023.

The announcement comes after the management contract for the 22-storey hotel in Bucharest’s University Square, previously known as the Intercontinental, ended last year. The hotel next to the National Theater rebranded as Grand Hotel Bucharest.

Athénée Palace has undergone refurbishment worth more than EUR 40 million in a process that kicked off in 2020, the company said. The first phase, which ended in the summer of 2021, was aimed at the refurbishment of the 132 rooms of the hotel’s ‘new wing.’ The second phase covers the 151 rooms in the building’s ‘historic wing,’ built in 1914. The refurbishment of the rooms and the façade has ended, and the works on the public areas – the hotel’s reception, Lobby, Café Athénée, Club Lounge, and conference rooms – are to be finalized by the end of the year.

Athénée Palace is part of Ana Hotels, which includes the Crowne Plaza Bucharest, three hotels in Poiana Brașov (Ana Hotels Sport, Bradul and Poiana), and Ana Hotels Europa, which includes the spa center Ana Aslan Health Spa in Eforie Nord, a resort on the Black Sea coast.

(Photo: LCVA | Dreamstime.com)