At 63 metres (207 ft) tall, the hotel is one of the tallest buildings in Finland outside Helsinki metropolitan area.

The S Group, a large Finnish co-operative company, first proposed the idea of building a new hotel in central Tampere in the 1970s.

Two redbrick buildings and the base of an old factory chimney next to the hotel are the only surviving remnants of the large industrial premises.

In 1983 the S-group's design team travelled to the United States to see how some of the world's most famous hotels, such as the Grand Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton, were built.

The project architect Maunu Kitunen completed the design in March 1983, creating a highly visible landmark in the centre of the city.