When luxury turns to terror: Inside the Taliban’s unforgettable takeover of Kabul’s InterContinental Hotel
Like the former Sheraton in Baghdad and Basra, InterContinental Kabul continues to use the name of a major brand, although it has no actual affiliation. We do not offer IHG Rewards points or provide free minibar benefits to top status customers.
It is currently owned by the Taliban, who have a 20% occupancy rate. To save energy, the hotel’s chandeliers are only half lit. The facility’s human resources manager owns an M4 assault rifle, a Glock, and has bomb-making skills.
Credit: InterContinental Kabul
When the Taliban stormed Kabul, they took over hotels, housed their fighters, and stole computers. However, within two days, the hotel’s male staff were recalled to reopen the hotel. The only place women are allowed to work in the hotel is at the security entrance where they screen the entry of female guests.
As U.S. troops left Kabul and Westerners evacuated, InterContinental advertised on social media that it was open for all lodging, catering and banquet needs. They made an agreement with the Canadians that guaranteed overnight accommodation for 120 departing citizens.
The day after 9/11, the Taliban held a press conference here and said they knew, of course, but they didn’t know where Osama bin Laden was. (Osama bin Laden once spent the night in rooms 196 and 197.) Renovations to the premises were carried out during the US involvement.
The new government renovated the place with the help of contractors, but it was never the same. One company closed its dining room balcony so guests could enjoy coffee while feeling the cool mountain breeze. Another company added another dining room to the hotel. Clouds are painted on the ceiling, making it look like a cruise ship. Another sold off the marble slabs in his garden. Hotel staff say corrupt officials simply took what they wanted from the InterContinental Hotel.
Credit: InterContinental Kabul
Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, once spent a night in Room 124. In 2011, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked the hotel, and in 2018, Taliban assassins killed 40 people there. The foreigners tied the bed sheets together and climbed through the window to escape. According to the staff, there is a ghost on the 5th floor of the hotel.
The mastermind behind the 2018 suicide bombing, now the interior minister, thanked the killer’s family in a hotel banquet hall.
The hotel operates a catering and banquet business, but music is prohibited. Just as management at upstart airline Riyadh Airways wants Saudi Arabia to allow airlines to serve alcohol, hotel management at the InterContinental Kabul also wants Taliban leaders to ban music at government-owned facilities. We hope that the ban will be relaxed. After all, the hotel is still in the red.
Secret police are monitoring video monitors from inside room 114. But the Taliban want to turn the hotel into a five-star hotel, have set up a hospitality academy and are seeking outside investors. They turned down offers from Turkish companies.
Ground was broken in 2004 on the site that was to become the Hyatt Regency Kabul.
Of course, many projects in the region change hands, such as the Ninawa International Hotel in Mosul, Iraq, which was taken over by ISIS in 2015, and two years later by ISIS to prevent it from falling into Iraqi hands. blew up the hotel.
Rates at the InterContinental Cavour start at $101, and all guests receive a complimentary breakfast.