Tourism: A Grand Hotel Checks Out

From its elegant mahogany bar to the cozy wicker furniture on its gingerbread verandas, Grand Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was a place for artists and writers to relax and reflect in style. Graham Greene set part of his novel The Comedians at the hotel, and Sir John Gielgud, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Mick Jagger were also guests.

But the unrest surrounding the sudden overthrow of Jean-Claude (“Baby Doc”) Duvalier’s regime in February has kept travelers away from Haiti, and last week the 89-year-old hotel closed its doors. All its furnishings are being put up for sale, but modern-day Haitians do not seem particularly interested in relics from a bygone era. The brightly painted wooden nameplates that identified the Anne Bancroft Suite and other celebrity rooms went for $4 each, and the famed mahogany bar remains unsold despite its modest asking price of $250.