Hotel Otava



Hotel Otava is a former hotel in Pori, Finland. The Neo-Renaissance building designed by Swedish architect C. J. von Heideken was completed in 1857. The hotel was closed in 1985 and today it works as an office building for the city of Pori. On its time of closing Hotel Otava was the oldest hotel-restaurant in Finland. It is named after the Finnish name of asterism Big Dipper.

Hotel building is located on the same city block with the 1853 established Pori Brewery and Pori Theatre opened 1884. It is a part of the old town (fi: Kivi-Pori) which is listed as a national cultural heritage site by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities. Hotel was renovated between 2000 and 2006.

Hotel Otava was the birthplace of Finnish-language theatre as the Finnish National Theatre gave its first performance at the hotel's auditorium on October 13, 1872. Swedish theatre had been performed at Otava since 1850's. During the World War II Hotel Otava was occupied by the general staff of German Luftwaffe which had an airbase at the Pori Airport. After the war the hotel accommodated Russian Allied Commission staff officers.

Until its closing in 1985 Hotel Otava served as one of the venues of Pori Jazz which today is one of the major jazz festivals in Europe. Artists performing at Otava include names like Bobby Hutcherson, Champion Jack Dupree, Herbie Hancock, United States Army Band and David Murray.