By James Jeffrey, for CNN
Somalilandsun- There’s the Paris Ritz, the New York Astoria, London’s Savoy — and then there’s Hargeisa’s Oriental.
OK, so this $15-a-night hotel, without an air-con unit in sight, on the Horn of Africa in the heart of Somaliland’s rambunctious capital might not be in the same luxury league as its big city rivals.
But stuck resolutely in a past that’s long been banished from the sterile, colorless places that many modern hotels now aspire to be, the Oriental is arguably what traveling is all about.
There’s no premier-class pampering and no pretentious airs here.
Yet it’s a top attraction in Somaliland, the unrecognized internationally but self-governing nation that’s been separate from the rest of Somalia since it declared independence in 1991.Sure, the daily 4:30 a.m. call to prayer from the giant four-story Ali Mataan mosque right next door can cut a good night’s sleep shorter than guests might wish.
A few extra yawns are more than made up for by old world charm that the Oriental effortlessly oozes. Source and more photos CNN
