In 1931, René Belloq stayed at the hotel, and used it as a base of operations to meet with Ali Bey-Faisal, whom he had hired to steal the Wohat Statues from different museums around the world, including the lion statue from the Barcelona History Museum. Knowing that Indiana Jones was coming to investigate the lion's theft, Belloq sent Bey-Faisal and his men to "scare" Jones, although actually to trick Jones into obtaining the Wohat Statues and solving their meaning in the search for the Invincible Ruby.