AFGHANISTAN - HEETAL PLAZA HOTEL, KABUL


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May 23rd 2010
Published: May 23rd 2010
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HEETAL PLAZA HOTEL, KABULHEETAL PLAZA HOTEL, KABULHEETAL PLAZA HOTEL, KABUL

A reasonable choice as a mid-level hotel, very secure.
During the first couple of weeks of working in Kabul the company secure compound had no room for visitors so we were compelled to stay at the Heetal Plaza Hotel, down the hill about two minutes drive away. Even so we had to go in armoured cars and wearing body armour accompanied by our excellent close protection officer Dan Saville, so tragically lost last week in the air crash near the Salang Pass (see my post 'Hope and Remembrance').

In fact the hotel was not so bad. Once through the very tight security (there had been a car bomb on the opposite corner!) there was at least an open garden or courtyard in which one could sit and contemplate the sniper nets (torn with holes from the explosion) and the razor wire. The rooms in the renovated part of the hotel are quite good with cable TV, a comfortable double bed and hot running water.

Equally the menu is acceptable, I particularly enjoyed the pasta and they did a good club sandwich and fries. If one gave money to the waiter he would arrange to send for beer (Heiniken) from the bazaar, but at $5 per small can it
INNER COURTYARDINNER COURTYARDINNER COURTYARD

Very pleasant with upgraded rooms, but no water in the pool. Note the shrapnel holes in the green sniper nets.
wasn't an every day indulgence.

In the basement under the dining room there is a fitness centre of sorts. The multi-machine was broken but there was a running machine - fairly new and functional - and adequate free weights.

Overall I suppose I would rather stay in the hotel than the compound; at least it represented a momentary escape from the dreadfully oppressive alternately muddy or dusty street without trees where the compound was situated (see my other post and photo). The images make the hotel look better than it really is, but for Kabul I would say it's a reasonable choice.

I can't help with the cost because the company had a deal. I expect it is around the $100 mark since Kabul hotels and guest houses are notoriously over-priced.

Heetal Plaza Hotel
Wazir Akber Khan
St.14, Last Block

Tel: +93 797 001/2
web site: www.heetal.com


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MAIN COURTYARDMAIN COURTYARD
MAIN COURTYARD

With the dining room on the left. Quiet and spacious enough.


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