Banksy opens hotel in Bethlehem
Anonymous street artist Banksy has opened a hotel in Bethlehem near the controversial West Bank barrier, which separates Israel from the Palestinian territories.
The Walled Off Hotel, a play on words of Waldorf Hotel, has nine rooms and one suite and will be open for bookings from March 11.
The artist and political activist has given assurances that the hotel opening is not a publicity stunt.
"It’s a genuine art hotel with fully functioning ensuite facilities and limited car parking," his website says.
It says the hotel aims to be open for the whole of this year, which marks 100 years since the ‘British took control of Palestine and helped kick start a century of confusion and conflict’.
The website also reassures visitors of the hotel’s safety, saying it is in a bustling area fully open to tourists from across the world.
"It has all the restaurants, bars and taxis you’d expect. We’re 500 metres from the checkpoint to Jerusalem and a mile from the centre of Bethlehem."
It adds that absolutely no fanaticism will be allowed on the premises.
The hotel has been designed in the style of a colonial club, with china and leather sofas, but its walls are covered with thought-provoking art.
The Presidential Suite, says the website, ‘is equipped with everything a corrupt head of state would need – a plunge bath able to accommodate up to four revellers, original artwork, library, home cinema, roof garden, tiki bar and a water feature made from a bullet riddled water tank’.
The hotel was built in secrecy over a 14-month period and was unveiled to the media on Friday.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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