Top-end hotel fills gap in Kabul

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40995000/jpg/_40995526_hotel203.jpg
The Afghan capital, Kabul, has a new, international standard five-star hotel, the first to be built since the fall of the Taleban four years ago.
President Hamid Karzai opened the Serena hotel, which has been built around the remains of another hotel badly damaged by fighting.

It is hoped that it will help attract more business people to invest in the poverty-stricken country and in the longer term attract wealthy tourists.

The Serena looks and feels like a five-star hotel anywhere, with its marble floors and expensive fittings.

It has everything one would expect - swimming pool, gym and 177 luxury rooms.

The starting price for a room is $250 a night - a fortune in a country where most people earn that in a year.

It has taken more than two years to build at a cost of $35m.


Shortage

Much of that has gone on making the original Kabul hotel earthquake resistant but also on making the building total self sufficient because of Kabul's still shattered infrastructure.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40995000/jpg/_40995508_hotelfront203.jpg
The hotel has its own water wells and sewage system. In-house generators provide all its power.

This is not Kabul's first five-star. That title goes to the city's Intercontinental, built in the late 60s but badly hit during the decades of war. It also suffers from being on the city's outskirts.

The Serena is right in the centre near the presidential palace.

Its backer is Prince Aga Khan, leader of the world's Islami Muslims whose development foundation built it at the request of the Afghan government.

There is a shortage of hotel accommodation in the city.

Most visitors here stay in guest houses and the government is hoping this new hotel will attract more foreign investors.

Another famous Kabul hotel, the Ariana, is currently off limits to developers even though the building is sound because it has been taken over by the CIA for its local headquarters.

nice find :) these kind of articles bring a smile to your face.

great to see development in Afghanistan

who paid for it?

Nice! happy to see Afghanistan taking steps forward

wow, pakistan is reall rebuilding afganistan, they have huge investments there now.

but who would spend $250 dollars a night to stay in afganistan.

You nevah know:D Afghanistan is a pretty Interesting country only problems arethe polotics and terrorism and they need money other wise than that I would love to stay there

wow, pakistan is reall rebuilding afganistan

please explain.

Nice! :D

please explain.

What Pakboy mean is that Pakistan along wid other countries are participating in the rebuilding phase of Afghanistan.

And I must say a great effort by Geneva-based Aga Khan Development Network to build a luxurious hotel in Kabul to lure investors and dollar-spending tourists :okay:

Some pictures:

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul1.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul2.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul3.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul4.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul5.jpg

^^ really luxurious! I like the design :) I can't wait to see Afghanistan in the next 5-10 years or so :)

Some pictures:

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul1.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul2.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul3.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul4.jpg

http://www.akdn.org/news/kabul5.jpg

WOW beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for Afghanistan

Isnt Serena a Pakistani owned business?

great news.

the hotel looks great i hope more projects get started in Afghanistan :yes:

they need to build 5-star hotel to give a rebirth to their economy and tourism!

Pakistan is paying million of dollar for the re-establishment of economy and infrastructure in Afghanistan. By developing road and infrastructure network there, Pakistan will be able to open up trade with the landlocked Central Asian Republics and the CARz will be able to transfer all of their natural resources to the Arabian sea via Afghanistan & Pakistan.

Afganistan is getting better and better every day. they had about 10% or so economic growth!

Sorry, but in what way is this a "rebuilding" of Afghanistan? This is nothign but an expensive pen for all the bureaucrats and military big wigs who'll be hanging around for the next few decades doing nothing but pissing money away. There are hotels liek this in 3rd world capitals everywhere. They mean very little for the local economy.

classy and simple ......... i like it...........

I do not understand why Afghanistan's government is so anti Pakistani even though we are investing so much into their country.

I do not understand why Afghanistan's government is so anti Pakistani even though we are investing so much into their country.

Are you sure you don't understand?

Yes, cause Karzai has hated Pakistan even when he was part of the Taliban.

UP, I don't know whats in store for Afghanistan - Pakistan relations, but I think you brought up a topic that shouldn't be discussed here.

I didn't know Karzai was in the Taliban. Maybe the current ministers from the Northern Alliance are filling his ears against his former ally.

UP, I don't know whats in store for Afghanistan - Pakistan relations, but I think you brought up a topic that shouldn't be discussed here.

I didn't know Karzai was in the Taliban. Maybe the current ministers from the Northern Alliance are filling his ears against his former ally.
Yes, Karzai was part of the Taliban but he later left because the Taliban softened up on Pakistan and tried to negotiate with our government. This really is not a problem considering Karzai is just a puppet for now.

UP, the Taliban, particularly Mullah Omar, came to power with considerable support from Pakistan. I don't see a question of the Taliban softening up on Pakistan when much of their legitimacy was derived from the recognition by Pakistan, UAE and SA. Pakistan, being an immediate neighbor, undoubtedly had the most clout.

So Karzai's a puppet, but technically, a puppet put in place partly by Pakistan too right, considering you are the main ally in Bush's war on terror?

Your disdain for Afghanistan because it doesn't tow the Pakistani line anymore is obvious from your many posts in your forum, and it will be a long time before Afghanistan gets up on its two feet, but when it does, hopefully it will strong enough to not let other countries decide its fate. That includes India, Iran, Pakistan, and all other parties in this mess.

Yes, cause Karzai has hated Pakistan even when he was part of the Taliban.

Karzai used to live in a Quetta suburb. Do a complete check, and i'm sure he also posses a Pakistani citizenship.

But anyhoo, nice development, and yes Serena is a Pakistani hotel chain. Good to see Serena expanding regionally. :)

UP, the Taliban, particularly Mullah Omar, came to power with considerable support from Pakistan. I don't see a question of the Taliban softening up on Pakistan when much of their legitimacy was derived from the recognition by Pakistan, UAE and SA. Pakistan, being an immediate neighbor, undoubtedly had the most clout.

So Karzai's a puppet, but technically, a puppet put in place partly by Pakistan too right, considering you are the main ally in Bush's war on terror?

Your disdain for Afghanistan because it doesn't tow the Pakistani line anymore is obvious from your many posts in your forum, and it will be a long time before Afghanistan gets up on its two feet, but when it does, hopefully it will strong enough to not let other countries decide its fate. That includes India, Iran, Pakistan, and all other parties in this mess.
Do you expect me to be happy if they are not looking for friendly relations with us? Offcourse I am going to be angered...

http://www.serenahotels.com/afghanistan/kabul/home.asp

I've just found the website. It looks pretty impressive for a country like Afghanistan.

Do you expect me to be happy if they are not looking for friendly relations with us? Offcourse I am going to be angered...

That is not what I am saying. From all your anti-afghan posts in your forum, i said it seems you are angered because they are not under your country's control anymore, and all that look what Pakistan did for them blah blah. This is the recurring theme here. Forumers believe the only wronged entity in this world is Pakistan; wronged by America and now wronged by Afghanistan.

Why wouldn't Afghanistan want friendly relations with Pakistan, its just that now maybe it should be on equal terms, and not on any one country's.

Karzai's a puppet? Hmm, I guess its not the US agents screening Pakistani passengers at Lahore and Karachi then.

I agree with you Kronik. Pakistan and Afghanistan need to work together and must stop trying to fiddle around with one another. That means Pakistan shouldn't try to control Afghanistan, and Afghanistan should be less anti-Islamabad (all the accusations of Pakistan being unable to control the border are pretty much ridiculous. If Afghanistan and the US army cant seal the border, how can the Pakistanis?)

That is not what I am saying. From all your anti-afghan posts in your forum, i said it seems you are angered because they are not under your country's control anymore, and all that look what Pakistan did for them blah blah. This is the recurring theme here. Forumers believe the only wronged entity in this world is Pakistan; wronged by America and now wronged by Afghanistan.

Why wouldn't Afghanistan want friendly relations with Pakistan, its just that now maybe it should be on equal terms, and not on any one country's.

Karzai's a puppet? Hmm, I guess its not the US agents screening Pakistani passengers at Lahore and Karachi then.
Wouldnt you say that Afghanistan has allied itself to those who are also not so friendly with Pakistan? And yet you claim that the relations should be on equal terms?

As for your claim that US agents are screening Pakistanis at Lahore and Karachi i would like a article so I can disprove it on July 1st on my trip to Lahore.

You also make it seem as if we did not suffer because of Afghanistan. We have a huge amount of refugees and we have got extremists running aroung all over the damn place. Do you think it is wise that we should not have helped the Taliban to stabalize Afghanistan?

It was 100% in our national intrests and in the Afghani national intrests to have a stable country. The taliban effectively took care of most of the warlords and they stopped a lot of the chaos. I am not saying they didnt do stupid things but I am just saying they also benefitted from having a stable rejime. 2 million Afghans went back when the country stabalized!

This is a bad investment in my opinion!

I e-mailed the Serena Hotel after the May 30 riot to ask if everyone was all right. They replied to me explaining that the damage was the windows on the ground floor were smashed and some linens from an unused storespace were stolen. But thankfully no employee or guest were hurt. Normal operations were running again the day after.

Does anyone have any picture of the Serena right after the riot, or of what the Serena looks right now? I tried to find a photo of the hotel but I couldn't.

Good for Afghanistan, I hope they get advanced so that their people can be happy and so that they can help the democratic world fight evils.

So is there any news of the construction?

I e-mailed the Serena Hotel after the May 30 riot to ask if everyone was all right. They replied to me explaining that the damage was the windows on the ground floor were smashed and some linens from an unused storespace were stolen. But thankfully no employee or guest were hurt. Normal operations were running again the day after.

Does anyone have any picture of the Serena right after the riot, or of what the Serena looks right now? I tried to find a photo of the hotel but I couldn't.
Serena Hotels is owned by the Aga Khan Foundation so I am sure it will be repaired. I am sure Aga Khan is kicking himself right now as to why he built this in the first place now.:lol:

I think there was demand for a five star hotel, that’s why it was built. There are lots of foreign aid workers and other visitors in Afghanistan who need a good and decent hotel to stay. Anyway, if it is proven otherwise, the hotel will be closed automatically, because they wouldn’t run the hotel in losses for long.

Impressive hotel... it was long due in Afgan has it not been plunged into war after war since the cold war era.. I wanna see more improvement in the AfganLand in future...
There is one problem remains for the hotel thou.. as it is a 5 star hotel and the country's economy is bad.. only foreigners will be living there and might turn out to be a militant target to take hostages!!! Hope doesn't happen thou.. GO AFGANS

Wow impressive hotel!! All the best to our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan from a Bangladeshi friend :)

It doesn't look like 5-star hotel but anyway good job for Afganistan. They need to build infrastructure in their country.

The hotel has its own water wells and sewage system. In-house generators provide all its power.

Water wells AND sewage (I am guessing septic?) I dont know what building code (if any) is used in Afganistan, but I hope that the wells and the septic system are spaced far enough from each other...

I fink its very good investment, as a number of foreign delegates visit country for several reasons as well as there is a huge number of Int Army sure they wud some time lyk to eat n relax in luxurious surroundings.

shopping in kabul
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