Smooth hotels in tough places.
Legendary names that continue to provide shelter in the remotest places, during wars, crises and in danger zones.
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“Great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service.”
Joan Didion
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ASIA
Serena Kabul, Afghanistan
Intercontinental Kabul, Afghanistan
(Gandamack Lodge, Kabul, Afghanistan)
Spinghar Hotel, Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Shigar Fort Residence Serena, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
(Green’s Hotel Peshawar, Pakistan)
Hyatt Regency Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Khorog Serena Inn, GBAO, Tajikistan
Gostinitza Kantubek, Vozrozhdeniya (Rebirth) Island, Aral Lake, Kazakhstan (abandoned)
Malikha Lodge, Putao, Burma
Le Royal, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (“Le Phnom”)
Rex, Continental and Caravelle Hotels, Saigon, Vietnam
Park Hyatt Saigon, Vietnam (the former Brinks Hotel)
Hotel Everest View, Namche, Nepal
360° Leti, Ladakh, India
The Taj Mahal Mumbai, India (site of biggest hotel terror attack)
Hermes Palace Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Sheraton Timika Eco-Hotel, Papua, Indonesia
Esplanada, Dili, East Timor
Sulu Peacekeepers Inn, Jolo, Philippines
Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea
Ryugyŏng Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea (105 floors high, 330 m tall, unfinished)
The Ananti, Mount Kumgang Tourist Zone, North Korea (opening delayed)
Folk Hotel, Kaesong, North Korea
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AFRICA
(El Minzeh, Tanger, Morocco (In WWII. Said to be the inspiration for Rick’s Bar in Casablanca.))
(Shepheard Hotel, Cairo, Egypt)
Rixos Al Nasr Hotel, Tripoli, Libya
Corinthia Hotel, Tripoli, Libya
Tibesti Hotel, Benghazi, Libya
Kempinski Hotel N’Djamena, Chad
Intercontinental, Asmara, Eritrea
Kempinski Palace, Djibouti
(Sheraton Djibouti)
Arous Resort, Sudan (set up for Operation Magic Carpet)
Sheraton Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, Kenya
Treetops Hotel, Aberdare, Kenya
Oasis Lodge, Lake Turkana, Kenya
Almond Resort, Garissa, Kenya (near Dadaab Refugee Camps)
Paradise Beach Resort, Kikambala, Kenya (bombed in 2002)
Serena Hotel Lake Kivu, Rwanda
Kempinski Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, Rwanda (Movie “Hotel Rwanda”)
Serena Polana Maputo, Mocambique
Grand Hotel Beira, Mocambique
Serena Hotel Kampala, Uganda
Emin Pasha, Kampala, Uganda
Masindi Hotel, Masindi, Uganda
Hotel Ihusi, Goma, DR Congo
Orchids Safari Club, Bukavu, DR Congo
Hotel Park, Lubumbashi, DR Congo (formerly “The Leopold”)
Hotel Memling, Kinshasa, DR Congo
Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika, Bujumbura, Burundi
Club Med Tokeh Beach, Sierra Leone (destroyed)
Country Lodge, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Wusum Hotel, Makeni, Sierra Leone
Mamba Point, Monrovia, Liberia
RLJ Kendeja Monrovia, Liberia
(Ducor Interconti, Monrovia – defunct – from luxury refuge to rebel base to squatter ruin)
(Hotel Africa, Monrovia, Liberia – defunct)
Golf Hotel Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Hotel Ivoire, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (former Interconti)
Hotel President Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire (former Interconti)
Sheraton Lagos, Nigeria
Sofitel Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Radisson Bamako, Mali
(Ambassador Hotel, Hargeisa, Somaliland)
Jazeeera Palace Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia
(Olympic Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia – Defunct hideout of Warlord Aidid before Battle of Mogadishu)
(Sahafi Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia)
Al Salam Rotana Khartoum, Sudan
(Grand Hotel Holiday Villa, Khartoum, Sudan)
(Hotel Acropole Khartoum, Sudan)
Equatoria Hotel Juba, South Sudan
Kwanza Tarpon Lodge, near Luanda, Angola
Hotel Terminus, Lobito, Angola
Selborne Lodge, Durban, South Africa (Shooting of FIFA-delegate Burgstaller)
Itsandra Hotel, Moroni, Comores
Galawa Beach Hotel, Moroni, Comores (Ethiopian Air water crash landing)
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MIDDLE EAST
Hotel Mertur, Kilis, Turkey / Syria Border
Hotel Shahba El Cham, Aleppo
Dama Rose Hotel, Damascus, Syria, fka Dedeman and Le Meridien
Le Commodore, Beirut, Lebanon
(Holiday Inn, Beirut, Lebanon)
(St. Georges Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon – closed)
(Queen Elissa Hotel, Tyre, Lebanon)
American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem
King David Hotel, Jerusalem
Intercontinental Bethlehem, West Bank
Intercontinental Jericho, West Bank
Mövenpick Ramallah, West Bank
Al Deira, Gaza
Mövenpick Hotel, Sanaa, Yemen
Hotel Abbasi, Isfahan, Iran
Hotel Sepehr, Tehran, Iran
(Esteghlal “Hilton”, Tehran, Iran)
(Canal Hotel, Baghdad, Iraq – destroyed in 2003)
(Ishtar “Sheraton” Baghdad, Iraq)
(Palestine Hotel, Baghdad, Iraq)
Babylon Hotel, Baghdad, Iraq
Erbil Rotana, Erbil, Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq
(Hotel International Erbil, Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq, fka Sheraton)
Waritheen International Hotel, Mosul, so-called Islamic State
Al Bustan Rotana, Dubai (Mossad assassination of Al Mabhouh)
Armed Forces Officer’s Club & Hotel, Abu Dhabi
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EUROPE
Arkin Palm Beach Hotel, with view to (defunct) Argo Hotel, Famagusta-Varosha, Northern Cyprus
Aman Sveti Stefan & Villa Milocer, Montenegro
Hotel Vilina Vlas, Visegrad, Bosnia
(Hotel Tomislav, Tomislavgrad, Bosnia-Hercegovina, from Rob Krott’s book “Save the last bullet for yourself”)
(Holiday Inn Sarajevo, Bosnia)
(Hotel Neretva, Mostar, Bosnia)
Hotel Jalta, Prague, Czech Republic (Soviet Spy Center & Bunker)
Hotels Afa, Ora and Ambassador, Pristina, Kosovo
Barclay Hotell, Tartu, Estonia (Dzokhar Dudaev’s Room)
Hotel Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
(Hotel Polissya, Pripyat, Ukraine (abandoned after Chernobyl, only alive in computer game “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”))
Atlas Hotel, formerly Ramada Hotel Donetsk
Donbass Palace, Donetsk
(Hotel Timoty, Tiraspol, Transnistria)
Hotel Lux, Moscow (defunct; to be reopened as Mandarin Oriental)
Sheraton Batumi, Adjaria
Hotel Aytar, Sukhumi, Abkhazia
Hotel Alan, Tskhinvali, South Ossetia
Rooms Hotel Kazbegi, Stepantsminda, Georgia
Artis Plaza Hotel, Magas, Ingushetía
Hotel Grozny City, Grozny, Chechnya
(Hotel Arena City, Grozny, Chechnya)
Hotel Metropol, Makhackala, Dagestan
Hotel Armenia Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh
Tulip Hotel Pyramiden, Russian part of Svalbard (Spitsbergen)
Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Royal Horseguards Hotel, London, UK (WW I Spy History and James Bond location)
Millenium Mayfair, London, UK (after the Litvinenko affair)
St. Ermins Hotel, London, UK
Hotel Savoy, London, UK
Solent Forts, near Portsmouth, UK
Hotel Lutétia, Paris, France (Gestapo seat in WW II.)
(Hotel Belvédère du Rayon Vert in Cerbère, France – defunct)
Hotel Pragser Wildsee, Lago di Braies, South Tyrol, Italy
Grand Hotel des Palmes, Palermo, Sicily, Italy (Mafia Meetings)
(Hotel Paradiso del Cevedale in Valmartello, Italy – defunct)
Palacio Estoril, Portugal (WW II History and James Bond Location)
Pera Palace, Istanbul, Turkey (Refuge in WW I & II.)
Athénée Palace Hilton, Bucharest, Romania
Hotel Bristol, Warsaw, Poland
Chateau Hotel Zbiroh, Czech Republic (SS and later radar station)
Hotel de Bilderberg, Oosterbeek, Holland
Hotel de Wereld, Wageningen, Holland
Hotel Sacher, Vienna, Austria (Graham Greene and other Spy Histories)
Hotel Beau Rivage, Geneva
Rifugio Garibaldi, Three Language Peak, Stilfserjoch, Italy
Campo Imperatore Hotel, Gran Sasso, Italy (Mussolini)
Panzer Hotel, Stuttgart-Möhringen, Germany (US Army only)
(Hotel General Walker, Garmisch-Partenkirchen – initially called Der Platterhof, now defunct)
Edelweiss Lodge, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (US Army only)
Hotel Lederer, Bad Wiessee, Germany (the former Kurheim Hanselbauer where Röhm’s SA was killed)
Gasthof Schorn, Untersberg
Altes Forsthaus, Ramsau near Berchtesgaden
Kempinski Berchtesgaden, Germany (At the site of Hitler’s Obersalzberg refuge)
Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten, Munich, Germany (Thule-Society)
Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Germany (Montgelas, Bavarian Illuminati, SIKO)
Hotel Marienbad, Munich, Germany (SA HQ)
Hotel Torbräu, Munich, Germany (founding of Schutzstaffel Hitler, SS)
Hotel Altmünchen, Munich, Germany (Hitler Youth)
Hotel Excelsior, Munich, Germany (US army HQ in WWII)
Rheinhotel Dreesen, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany
Haus Waldhof Villa Schuster, Kronberg im Taunus, Germany (CIA-Operation Artichoke)
Schloss Kransberg, Taunus (“Camp Dustbin”, later CIA)
Hotel Stadt Hameln, Germany (allied prison after WWII)
Hotel Kaiserhof, Porta Westfalica, Germany (British military HQ after WWII)
Hotel Adlon, Berlin, Germany
(Hotel Luftbrücke, Kreutzberg, Berlin, Germany (former Stasi operations center “Rhineland Base”))
Hotel Döllnsee-Schorfheide, Templin (Carinhall)
(Hotel Prora in Rügen, Germany – defunct)
Hotel Neptun, Warnemünde , Germany (infamous Stasi hang out)
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CARRIBBEAN, CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA
Fairmont Princess, Hamilton, Bermuda (Allied intelligence hub where all mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the U.S. and the Far East was intercepted and then analyzed by 1,200 British.)
(Hotel Ambos Mundos, Havana, Cuba (Hemingway))
(Hotel Oloffson, Port-au-Prince, Haiti)
Goldeneye Hotel, Oracabessa, Jamaica (tribute to Ian Fleming / James Bond)
Melia Panama Canal, Colon, Panama (former School of the Americas)
Canopy Tower Hotel, Panama
Royal Torarica, Paramaribo, Suriname
Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown, Guyana
Rock View Lodge, Rupununi, Guyana
The Charlee Medellin, Colombia
Decameron Decalodge Ticuna, Leticia, Columbia
Wittmer Lodge, Floreana, Galapagos, Ecuador (“Galapagos Affair”)
Llao Llao Hotel, Bariloche, Argentina (Soros)
Eden Hotel, La Falda, Cordoba, Argentina (defunct; formerly owned by Hitler supporters Eichhorn)
Hotel Baviera, Parral, Chile (formerly Colonia Dignidad)
ESO Hotel, Paranal Observatory, Chile (in movie “Quantum of Solace”)
Malvina House Hotel, Stanley, Falkland Islands
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NORTH AMERICA
Ambassador Hotel, LA – (destroyed) murder of Robert Kennedy
Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, Vermont, USA
The Greenbrier Resort (and Bunker), West Virginia, USA
(Marriott World Trade Center, New York, USA)
Millenium Hilton, New York, USA
The Watergate Hotel, Washington DC, USA
Sheraton Hotel Gary, Indiana (former Holiday Inn, abandoned since 1985)
(Holiday Inn, Monterrey, Mexico) (shooting)
Habita Hotel, Monterrey, Mexico
Hotel Boca Chica, Acapulco, Mexico
Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico
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OCEANIA
Menen Hotel, Nauru
Robert Reimers Hotel, Majuro, Marshall Islands
Luana Liki Hotel, Tokelau
The George Hotel, Tarawa, Kiribati (surrounded by WW2 relics)
Airways Hotel, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Ambua Lodge, Tari, Papua New Guinea
Aggie Grey’s, American Samoa (well, never a tough place, but “war history”)
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(ANT) ARCTICA
Ice Camp Barneo, North Pole (Russia)
Estrella Polar Hotel, King George Island (Chilean Base)
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, US Base
“Vela Hotel”
Not really a hotel. In 1979, the American spy satellite “Vela Hotel” recorded a flash of light near Bouvet, a remote and uninhabited island belonging to Norway, which was later interpreted as a South African / Israeli nuclear bomb test. The Vela Incident is still not completely resolved.
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“Wherever you go, try to stay at the most famous hotel – even if you can only afford the smallest room!”
Aristoteles Onassis
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Read "War of the Hotels”, Beirut, 1975: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_hotels
