PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s once illustrious Grand Hôtel Oloffson, a beloved Gothic gingerbread home that inspired books, hosted parties until dawn and attracted visitors from Mick Jagger to Haitian presidents, was burned down by gangs this past weekend.
Hundreds of Haitians and foreigners mourned the news as it spread across social media, with the hotel manager on Monday confirming the fire in a brief comment on X. Even though gang violence had forced the hotel in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, to close in recent years, many had hoped it would reopen.
“It birthed so much culture and expression,” said Riva Précil, a Haitian-American singer who lived in the hotel from age 5 to 15. Speaking over the phone, Précil recalled how she learned to swim, dance and sing at the Oloffson.
The attack on the community where the hotel was located began late Saturday, according to James Jean-Louis, who lives above