Azimut Hotel Murmansk

Azimut Hotel Murmansk
Azimut Hotel Murmansk
Hotel chain	Azimut Hotels
General information
Type	Hotel
Location	Five Corners, Murmansk
Address	82 Lenin Avenue
Town or city	Murmansk
Country	Russia
Coordinates	68°58′16.31″N 33°04′34.26″E / 68.9711972°N 33.0761833°E / 68.9711972; 33.0761833
Completed	1984
Opened	29 January 1985
Renovated	13 September 2014
Owner	Azimut Hotels (50%), City of Murmansk (50%)
Height	54.86 m (180.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	19
Renovating team
Architect(s)	Nikolai Lyzlov
Main contractor	RD Group
Other information
Number of rooms	186
Number of restaurants	2
Number of bars	2
Parking	150
Website
Official website
References
[1]

The Azimut Hotel Murmansk is a high-rise hotel in the center of Murmansk, Russia. It opened in 1984, as the Hotel Arktika (Russian: Арктика) (Hotel Arctic) and was renamed the Azimut Hotel Murmansk in 2014, following major renovations. It is the tallest building in Murmansk^[2] and the tallest building located north of the Arctic Circle.^[3][4][1]

The hotel is located at 82 Lenin Avenue at Five Corners, Murmansk's main square. Prior to its 2009 closing, the hotel had a restaurant (also called "Arctic"), a cafe (the "Day and Night"), a billiards room, a hairdressing salon, a tanning salon, and several shops, bars, and coffee shops.^[5]

The first Murmansk hotel named "Arktika" opened in 1933. It was a four–story brick building with 100 rooms.^[6] In 1972 – 1984 the old hotel was demolished and replaced by the current building.^[2]

Before 1988 the hotel was a state enterprise. In 1990 it became the property of a joint Soviet–Swedish company. In 1996 it acquired the status of a municipal hotel and restaurant complex, in 2003 it became a municipal unitary enterprise,^[2] and in 2006 it was privatized. Half the shares are held by the City of Murmansk and half by the Azimut Hotels Corporation.^[4]

In 1996 (the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Murmansk), following an initiative by mayor Oleg Naydenov, chimes were installed in the hotel which play "My Beloved Arctic",^[7][8] the unofficial anthem of the Murmansk region. The chimes were silenced from 2007 to 2009 for repairs.^[9]

In 2009 the Hotel Arctic was closed for renovation, to upgrade the comfort and safety of the hotel.^[11][12]

The renovation was undertaken by the Azimut Hotels Company, the architectural firm of Nikolai Lyzlov,^[13] and a British architectural firm.

The renovation was designed so as to update the facade, increase the number of elevators, and provide space for boutiques, cafes, and restaurants. The utilities were to be updated, the outdated fire safety systems was to be replaced, and the average room size was to be increased to 80 square metres (860 sq ft). The first six or seven floors were converted to office space, with hotel rooms occupying only the upper ten floors.^[14]

The hotel reopened as the Azimut Hotel Murmansk on 13 September 2014.^[15]

Various persons of note stayed at the old or new Arctic, including the Soviet physicist Sergei Vavilov, the arctic explorers Vladimir Wiese, Otto Schmidt, and Ivan Papanin, the Soviet writers Veniamin Kaverin, Konstantin Simonov, and Valentin Kataev, and the Russian/Soviet zoologist Nikolai Knipovich. The hotel provides accommodation for participants in the Northern Festival (the "Polar Olympics") which is held in Murmansk.^[2]

The Arctic is mentioned in the poem "A Toast to Zhenya" by Yuri Vizbor:^[16]

Well now, citizen, look at yourself.
You've stayed 'til one.
Now it's closing time!
Paid your tab?
Better tote it up.
Or are you planning to stay 'til dawn?
Damn.
With a face that has forgotten how to smile
I walked away from the past...
From the Hotel Arctic
Into a darkness untouched by any god:
The blind polar night.

• Azimut Hotel Murmansk official website (in English)
• Presentation on the renovation project (PDF), see pages 32 – 39. (in English)