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During the Second World War, neutral Portugal became Europe's espionage capital, and the Palácio Estoril was its headquarters. British and German spies drank in the same bar, played baccarat at the casino next door, and tried to eavesdrop on each other through hidden microphones. One of those spies was a young British Naval Intelligence officer named Ian Fleming, who watched a double agent named Dušan Popov wager a fortune at the baccarat table — and twelve years later turned the scene into Casino Royale. The Spy Bar still serves a 007 Martini. Opened in 1930, with 161 rooms, and a guest ledger that reads like an intelligence dossier crossed with the Almanach de Gotha.
Go deeper...
Historic Hotels Then & Now — The Coast of Kings
History Hit — Spies at the bar, Bond on the terrace
Máxima — The registration cards still framed on the wall