The Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest is a restored belle époque property situated in the ... more
city centre, 100 metres from the National Art Museum. This seven floor hotel features 272 air conditioned guestrooms overlooking famous squares and avenues or the h...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The Athénée Palace Hilton Bucharest is a restored belle époque property situated in the ... more
city centre, 100 metres from the National Art Museum. This seven floor hotel features 272 air conditioned guestrooms overlooking famous squares and avenues or the h...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Advantages: Helps put Romania in context, an astounding building Disadvantages: Uncomfortable history, vulgar and ostentatious decor
Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin?.the twentieth century certainly had its share of unpleasant and tyrannous leaders. Romania?s Nicolae Ceausescu must surely rank near the top of the list - if there were league tables for nastiness then he would likely be in a medal position. Tales of his evil deeds abound but the Romanian capital, Bucharest, is home to the project that embodied his bizarre and frightening ideas - the Palace of the People. In terms of surface area it is the second largest building in the world, in volume the third largest. It is not just its size, though, that makes it astonishing; millions of Leu were poured into the project while Romania received international aid and its people starved.
The building was not even completed when Ceausescu was overthrown in December 1989 and nearly two decades later it is still ...
Advantages: Lots to see and do, loads of cultural and historical stuff, fairly cheap Disadvantages: Traffic, lots of concrete
of the older buildings in the centre of Bucharest were bulldozed in order to make room for the huge monstrosity that was the bricks and mortar symbol of Ceausescu's regime, ironically named "the palace of the People".
Finally, the overthrowing of the Communist regime in Romania was much less peaceful than the events in other countries and it was played out on our television screens. Anyone old enough will surely remember the images of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu being executed and there are reminders of those bloody events all over the city.
It would be a shame, though, to let these things persuade you that Bucharest is not worth visiting. The city may not have an obvious touristic centre but there is still plenty to see and a real effort has been made to show Romania's cultural and historic heritage in other ways. The vast concrete square ...
Advantages: In a good location, many friendly members of staff, spacious rooms Disadvantages: Questionable hygiene and maintenance issues
Long before a certain American socialite claimed that everything under the sun was ?hot?, the name ?Hilton? was most commonly recognised as being an international hotel empire. Having expanded throughout the 20th century, from humble beginnings in Dallas, Texas, I?ve always thought of Hilton hotels as havens for businessmen trying to impress potential clients. Alas, as if you haven?t noticed, there is a global recession going on and the chain has seemingly relaxed their approach a little and offered those in need of a leisurely break the opportunity to stay in their hotels at a reasonable cost.
As a result of some rather difficult family circumstances, my folks didn?t want to venture too far away from home this summer. Whilst Coventry might not sound like everyone?s ideal holiday destination, it was far enough away from Lincolnshire ...
