Ducor Hotel

About this place

The Ducor Hotel is an abandoned luxury hotel on Ducor Hill, the highest point of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. From its perch it looks over the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River and the West Point district. Its empty shell has become one of the city's best-known landmarks, visited for the wide view and the story of the place. The hotel opened in 1960 as Liberia's first international-class hotel and was for many years one of the few five-star hotels in Africa. It had 106 rooms on eight floors, and an extension with 110 more rooms was added in 1963. It hosted meetings of African leaders, and the president of Côte d'Ivoire was so impressed that he commissioned a similar hotel in Abidjan. It closed in 1989 and has stood empty since. You see a tall concrete building with empty balconies and glassless windows, surrounded by grass and trees. In the yard is an old empty pool in faded blue with a worn diving platform. From the hilltop a wide view spreads over the curving shore of West Point, its packed houses and the sea. It is about 3 km from central Monrovia in a straight line. The building is crumbling and entry may be forbidden, so stay out of unsafe parts and follow the guards. Do not photograph people without permission.