Opened in 1962 as the Royal Tehran Hilton, the hotel was designed by local Iranian architect Heydar Ghiai.

The hotel's design consultants also included noted British architect Raglan Squire,[1] who also designed Hilton hotels in Tunis, Bahrain, Nicosia, and Jakarta.

The hotel's famous guests during this period included Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, King Hussein of Jordan, and Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

Today, it is part of the state-run Parsian International Hotels Co. A third tower is currently under construction.

Unlike its more contemporary twin building, the original white concrete of the first tower was able to retain its coloration due to an innovation by its architect Heydar Ghiai who decided to include particles of crushed white marble into the concrete mix.