Haiti's famed Oloffson Hotel reduced to ashes in fire set by gangs
Grand Hôtel Oloffson, a well-known Gothic hotel in Port-au-Prince, burned down over the weekend.
A hotel in Haiti that is said to have inspired multiple books, hosts parties late into the night, and hosts visitors such as Mick Jagger was burned down by gangs over the weekend.
Grand Hôtel Oloffson, a well-known Gothic hotel in Port-au-Prince, recently closed due to gang violence, leaving many people hopeful it would reopen.
Richard Morse, the hotel manager, had been supervising the hotel remotely while in the United States since the hotel closed in 2022.
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He told the Associated Press that rumors had been swirling for several months about the hotel being burned down, so when he heard the news “this time,” he wasn’t sure it was real.
“So when I heard Sunday morning that it burned, I did what I usually do, which is call someone who has drones and have them go take a look,” he said.
“This time, when they called back, they said something like, ‘take a seat.’ I knew then that this wasn’t like the other times,” he added.
NBC News reported that Morse confirmed the news on X. Some residents in the area said it held much artistic value.
“It birthed so much culture and expression,” Riva Précil told NBC News, a Haitian-American singer who lived in the hotel from age 5 to 15.
Précil detailed how she learned to swim, sing, and dance at the Oloffson.
A resident of Port-au-Prince who lives in the hills over the hotel said the attack began late Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
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He detailed that he saw flames while being chased out of the community during an exchange of heavy gunfire between multiple gangs and police in the area during the attack.
Gangs currently control the area, leaving reporters unable to visit the site and report details on the damage.
Patrick Durandis, director of the Institute for Safeguarding National Heritage, also confirmed the fire to the Associated Press.
