Parsian Esteghlal International Hotel

Parsian Esteghlal International Hotel
Parsian Esteghlal International Hotel
	The Royal Tehran Hilton in 1967
Hotel chain	Parsian Hotels
General information
Standort	Tehran, Iran
Coordinates	35°47′26″N 51°24′47″E / 35.7906°N 51.4130°E
Opening	1962
Management	Parsian International Hotels Co.
Technical details
Floor area	70,000 m2
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Heydar GhiaiCite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).
Other information
Number of rooms	550
Number of restaurants	6

The Parsian Esteghlal International Hotel is a hotel in Tehran, Iran. Opened in 1962 as the Royal Tehran Hilton Iranian architect Heydar Ghiai.

The hotel originally consisted of a single tower containing 259 rooms. An additional tower, with 291 more rooms, was constructed in 1972. A third tower is currently under construction. The hotel was renamed the Esteghlal Hotel (meaning "Independence" Hotel in Persian) following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when all foreign hotel management contracts were severed. It is today part of the state-run Parsian International Hotels Co.

History

An Emploee of the RTH during the 1970s Royal Tehran Hotel was the favorite of the Imperial court and all dignitaries visiting Iran....Le Cafe the all-day Restaurant used to serve over 800 covers every night from 11 PM to 6 o'clock AM....Hilltop Rentals have had over 30 Luxury cars for rent. During Mr. Phillipides the General Manager and Mr. Habib ulRahman Obeidi the controller the hotel was the most visited establishment in the Middle and the near east after Babylon hotel in Baghdad, King David hotel was the third, in that Cathagory. His Imperial Majesties The Pahlavis and their households were frequent visitors to hotel during their rest period, Reza Pahlavi the II, Current King of the Persian throne, used to have his orange juice after his horse-riding at the lobby of the hotel, Prepared by "Food and Beverage control Department", the Department, the cup holder of the court. The oversight element for food and beverage consumption of the Royal family and their guests...Mr. Amir Mot'taqi the chief Protocol Director of the court of Pahlavi, was the programmed visitor to the Department. It was an honor to serve in the Era of the golden age of Iran.

Hospitality Business is an Ancient art in Persian Ideology, the Wiseman repeatedly echo that “the guest is the GOD send." Baron Hilton's favorite hotel was the RTH...He mentioned it in his memoirs few time.

Between 1970 and 1972, I worked at Royal Tehran Hilton as a receptionist and later as an Assistant Manager. The hotel was indeed THE place for those wanting to see and be seen. Numerous international celebrities and dignitaries resided and performed at RTH, including the renowned French singer Charles Aznavour, as well as others such as Eddie Constantin, Salvatore Adamo, Heads of the Persian Gulf Emirates, European and American dignitaries and many more. The Royal and Presidential Suites were the ultimate standards of luxury for those who splurged to impress, at a whopping !7,850 Rials per night (equal to $250.00 and an enormity those days when RTH charged nightly rates of $20 for regular rooms and $40 for corner suites). The Royal Family and their extended members were frequently at the hotel. Mr. George Phillipides served as the General Manager and Mr. Peter Lezius served as the Executive Assistant Manager; and Mr. Amir Mottaghi, Chief of Protocol at the Impertial Court resided at Suite 1208.

In October 1971, all RTH guests were transferred to other nearby hotels in Tehran for one week as the Hotel was temporarily converted into a bastion of safety to house more than 68 international dignitaries attending Iran's celebrations commemorating 2500 years of Persian Empire. Among the distinguished guests whom I personally escorted to their rooms were HRH Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (the very first of the dignitaries to arrive at RTH for the celebrations), Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, HRH King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, and HRH King Hussein of Jordan. A mere 100 staff members (myself included) out of the 600+ employees were hand-picked by the secret service and the Imperial Court, thoroughly investigated and assigned as the attending staff during that one week and the security measures we were subjected to were and are to this day without parallel.

It was an honor and quite a life-changing experience for the 20-year-old me to work at RTH those days.

References

J.I Cohen, M. Eleb & A. Martinelli, "The 20th century Architecture & Urbanism" ; Paris, A+U, 1990, pp. 146–51
F. Ghiai, " Yady az Heydar Ghiai", Rahavard, No.26, No27, No28, No29, Los Angeles, 1990-91-92-93, pp. 246–52, pp. 233–40
M. Ghiai, Iran Senate House, Max Gerard Edt. Draeger Paris, 1976 ISBN 2-85119-008-3
Architecture d'aujourd'hui, No.78, 1958, "Exposition et Hotel à Teheran", pp. 96–101
Architecture d'aujourd'hui, No.98, 1963, Paris, "Hôpital a Machad", pp. 33–34
F. Bemont, "Teheran Contemporain", Art&Architecture, Teheran, No.17, 1973, pp. 85–88
B. Oudin, Dictionnaire des Architectes, Paris, 1982, p. 187 ISBN 2-221-01090-6
H. Stierlin, Iran des Batisseurs, "2500 ans d'Architecture", Geneva, 1971, p. 102
Michel Ragon Histoire de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme modernes, éd.Casterman,Paris, 1986 ISBN 2-02-013290-7
E. Yarshater, Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume X, New-York, 2001, p. 591-92
M. Akri, "Iran during the Pahlavi Era, Major political players", London, 1989, p. 392
R. Ghirshman, Persia El reino immortal, London, 1971, p. 141
Paris Match, "La Grandeur d'un Regne; le Senat Iranien", No.1448, Paris, 1977, p. 12
Teheran Journal, "Downtown's Masterpiece", March 5, 1977, p. 6
Architecture Méditerranéenne, No 55, "From father to son, a dynasty of builders", Marseille, 2001, pp. 130–60
Persian Heritage, No 19, "Like Father Like Son", New Jersey, 2000, p. 29
Jours de France, "Monde", June 21, 1965, p. 65
teNeues, "San Francisco Houses", Loft Publications, Spain, Summer 2003, pp, 314-329
Jean Royere "Decorateur a paris" page 40 p165 edition Norma

External links