Sokos Hotel Viru

Sokos Hotel Viru is a hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. It opened on 5 May 1972 under the original name of "Viru Hotel", and was originally owned by Intourist. The hotel building was Estonia's first high-rise building. Today, it is connected to the shopping center, Viru Keskus, and is owned by Sokos Hotels.

Sokos Hotel Viru in May 2012.

A standard double room at the hotel, in summer 2012.

The Soviet Union gave the Viru Hotel project to a construction company named Repo Oy from Savonlinna, Finland in 1969. Construction began in July the same year. However, the company went bankrupt after a fire broke out on the 10th floor in December 1969.

The state of Finland had to maintain relations with the Soviet Union, forcing them to find another construction company and financial backing for the project. The Finnish company Haka Oy finished the hotel in May 1972. The project resulted in a new construction project in Pääjärvi that began the same year. Newer construction projects in Enso and Kostamus are also being built. (All of these being in the Republic of Karelia).[1]

During the Soviet era, the 23rd floor of the hotel hosted a radio station called the KGB radio center. This radio service was used to eavesdrop and spy on hotel guests. Sixty of the rooms had concealed espionage devices. Some restaurant tables had microphones. The KGB left the hotel just before Estonia became independent in August 1991, but the secret rooms weren't found until 1994. This former radio center is now a museum.[2]

In 2003, the hotel was sold to the S Group, a Finnish retailing cooperative organization. It now has 516 rooms.[3]