The Parsian Azadi Hotel () is one of the largest and tallest hotels in
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, situated in the northern
Evin
Evin is a neighbourhood in the north of Tehran.
The district consists of an old section filled with orchards and gardens of old houses and a new section with high rises and skyscrapers.
It is adjacent to Shahid Beheshti University campus. It is ...
neighborhood, overlooking the city. The hotel has 475 guest rooms & suites.
History
On May 24, 1976,
Hyatt International signed a contract to manage a new hotel to be built by the Royal Estates Administration in Tehran. It was the third Hyatt to open in Iran, following the Hyatt Omar Khayyam in the city of
Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
, opened in November 1973, and the Hyatt Regency Caspian, a seaside beach resort in
Chalus, opened on March 11, 1976.
The Hyatt Crown Tehran was completed two years later, but only partially opened on September 1, 1978,
due to the then-ongoing
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
. In February 1979, all foreign Hyatt staff departed the hotel due to safety concerns and the Hyatt Crown Tehran was transferred from the REA to the
Pahlavi Foundation. On February 12, 1979, the Hyatt Crown Tehran was attacked by
Revolutionary Guards. It was extensively damaged and occupied by the Guards, but remained in operation, run by Hyatt-trained Iranian staff.
On December 27, 1979, the Pahlavi Foundation terminated Hyatt International's management contracts for the three hotels, citing the departure of the foreign staff as grounds, resulting in a lengthy international lawsuit filed by Hyatt.
The Hyatt Crown Tehran was renamed the Tehran Crown Hotel and the three hotels were transferred to the Pahlavi Foundation's successor organization, the
Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled. The hotel was again renamed the Azadi Grand Hotel (Azadi means "Freedom" in Persian) in 1980. The Foundation's hotel division was separated off in 1995, named first Bonyads Hotels, then Azadi Hotels in 1999 and finally Parsian Hotels in 2000.
The Azadi Grand Hotel closed in 2007 for a $50 million renovation overseen by Franco-Italian, Swiss-German and British interior designers and a number of Western/European construction firms. It also underwent seismic retrofitting, due to the danger of earthquakes in Tehran. It reopened in 2008 as the Parsian Azadi Hotel.
In Media
In January 1979,
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...
and members of his team stayed at the Hyatt Crown Tehran as part of a mission Perot organized to rescue two of his employees from a Tehran prison.
The mission was dramatized in
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett (born 5 June 1949) is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 198 million copies of his works. His books have been sold in over 80 countries.
Follett's commercial breakthrough came with ...
's 1983 international bestseller ''
On Wings of Eagles
''On Wings of Eagles'' is a 1983 non-fiction thriller written by British author Ken Follett. Set against the background of the Iranian revolution, it tells a story based on the rescue of Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord from prison in Tehran ...
'', which was filmed as a 1986 TV miniseries.
Gallery
Image:Parsian Evin Hotel, Chamran Highway, Tehrān, Teheran, Iran - panoramio (1).jpg, Parsian Azadi Hotel, 2013
Image:منطقه_اوین_تهران.jpg, Parsian Azadi Hotel seen from Chamran Highway, August 2015
Image:Hotel Parsian Azadi (Hyatt) - panoramio.jpg, Parsian Azadi Hotel, 2014
References
External links
Parsian Azadi Hotel - official website
{{coord, 35.7896, N, 51.3900, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Hotels in Tehran
Hotels in Iran
Hotels established in 1978
Hotel buildings completed in 1978
1978 establishments in Iran