Iconic Port Au Prince Hotel That Hosted Kennedys, Mick Jagger, Burns Down During Gang War
Things aren’t exactly going splendidly in Haiti…
Case in point? A historic hotel in Port au Prince, once a symbol of the country’s cultural and intellectual life, was destroyed by fire over the weekend as gang violence continues to overwhelm the capital, according to Bloomberg.
The Hotel Oloffson, a 90-year-old gingerbread-style building in Port-au-Prince, was “burned to the ground,” according to Richard Morse, a musician whose band RAM once performed there regularly. The cause of the blaze remains unclear, but the hotel sat in an area now heavily controlled by armed gangs.
Bloomberg writes that, originally converted into a hotel in the 1930s, the Oloffson rose to fame during Haiti’s tourism boom in the 1970s and ’80s. It hosted famous guests including Mick Jagger and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and even served as the inspiration for Graham Greene’s novel The Comedians.
Local outlet Gazette Haiti lamented the loss, calling it the erasure of “an entire heritage” and “a symbol of Haiti’s urban and intellectual identity.”
The area surrounding the hotel has been inaccessible since March due to violent clashes between police and gangs. According to the United Nations, gangs now control 90% of Port-au-Prince, with over 4,000 homicides reported this year.
Haiti is facing a severe security crisis as gangs now control about 90% of Port-au-Prince, according to the UN. Gang violence, including killings, kidnappings, and clashes with police, has left over 4,000 dead in 2025 and forced thousands to flee their homes. Once-thriving neighborhoods have become battlegrounds.
This surge in violence stems from years of political instability, economic collapse, and weak governance. With little state control and no functioning parliament, gangs have filled the power vacuum, seizing territory and terrorizing communities. Many areas are now cut off from food, healthcare, and basic services.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/08/2025 – 19:40
