I already told you about the former KGB building in Tallinn. Now I'm going to tell you about a hotel - a fancy hotel - that at one time, housed a KGB radio centre on the 23rd floor. It had guests like Elizabeth Taylor, Neil Armstrong, Persian Shah Pahlavi, and other famous people. It also attracted many politicians. But hey - that was the point. It was such a nice hotel with restaurants, entertainment and anything a person could want, so there was no reason for anyone to leave. Trouble was that it was built out of "microcrete" (in other words: 50% concrete and 50% microphones).
The radio rooms weren't discovered until 1994, when the hotel was renovated. There are presently 516 rooms. Back during the Soviet era, 60 of the hotel rooms had concealed espionage devices. Some of the tables in the restaurant had microphones in their heavy-bottomed ashtrays and bread plates. Peepholes were concealed in the walls, phones and flowerpots. Even the sauna was bugged. Maids were picked for their lack of language skills, so as to prevent unauthorized chit-chat.
You can still see a purse bomb and a camera that could see a whole room through a pinprick in the wallpaper or curtain.
When the hotel installed its first fax machine, in 1989, the
operator traveled to Moscow for two weeks of training. Any incoming fax was
copied twice – once for the recipient, once for the KGB.
The radio room hasn't been touched since the last KGB agent to leave turned out the lights in 1991. A sign stenciled on the door outside reads: Zdes Nichevo Nyet (There is nothing here).
Sensitive antennae on the roof could pick up radio signals
from Helsinki, 50 miles away across the Baltic Sea, or from ships passing by
the Estonian coast. View from the Sokos Hotel Viru...
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| Internet pic of old town area from hotel room |
