Spy - War - Dangerzone Hotels

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