Late last year we reported that Four Seasons would be opening in Baku, and now it seems a flurry of luxury hotel openings are transforming the oil capital on the Caspian Sea. We hear that Marriott International has just debuted the JW Marriott Absheron Hotel Baku, the company’s first property in Azerbaijan. The country’s President Ilham Aliyevpaid opened the hotel over the weekend, promoting Azerbaijan as a future “world tourism center.” Four new five-star properties have opened in the past year, with two more in the pipeline for the coming months. Baku has undertaken major city-wide improvements- including a renovation and extension of the historic seafront promenade.
The JW Marriott is built on the site of the landmark Absheron hotel, and hence preserves the famous old hotel’s name. Overlooking Baku’s Azadliq Square in the city center, the hotel offers both Caspian Sea and city views from its 243 guest rooms and suites. The hotel has a luxury spa, restaurants and bars, 13 meeting rooms, an enormous pillarless ballroom, a fitness center and a swimming pool on the 22nd floor. For more information, visit www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/gydjw-jw-marriott-hotel-absheron-baku.