MONROVIA – Perched high on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the bustling capital of Monrovia, the ruins of the once majestic Ducor Hotel remain an imposing yet haunting symbol of Liberia’s turbulent history.
Once the pride of West Africa and the first five-star hotel in the region, the Ducor Hotel was a beacon of luxury, diplomacy, and architectural elegance. Built in 1960 by Israeli industrialist Moshe Mayer, the 120-room hotel was inaugurated with great fanfare and attended by high-profile dignitaries, including Guinea’s President Sekou Touré and Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir. In 1962, it was taken over by Intercontinental Hotels and renamed Ducor Intercontinental, cementing its place among the continent’s elite establishments.
The hotel boasted world-class amenities such as a French restaurant, tennis courts, a grand swimming pool, and sweeping ocean views. It was a favored destination for African heads of state and international tourists alike. Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie, President Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire, and even Uganda’s Idi Amin who famously swam in its pool while armed were among its notable guests. Boigny was reportedly so impressed that he commissioned a similar structure, the Hotel Ivoire, in Abidjan.
But that golden age is long gone.
The Ducor closed its doors in 1989, on the eve of Liberia’s brutal civil war. What followed was more than two decades of devastation, looting, and political instability that left the structure hollowed out and scarred. Once a sanctuary for the powerful, it became a shelter for displaced persons and squatters fleeing the horrors of war.
James Kollie, a long-time security guard at the site, recalls how even during the war, the hotel remained occupied. “We had people living here, even the interim president at one point. After the war, the interim government used the building too,” he said.
In 2007, the Ministry of Justice evicted squatters from the premises. The following year, then-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed a lease agreement with the Government of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, which began preliminary work on restoring the hotel. Debris was cleared, designs were drawn by Italian firm Serapioni, and a revival of the Ducor seemed imminent.
But with the fall of the Gaddafi regime during Libya’s civil war in 2011, the restoration project collapsed. Since then, the building has remained in legal and diplomatic limbo. Despite its location in Monrovia, the hotel reportedly remains under the control of Libyan authorities rather than the Liberian government.
Today, the once-proud Ducor is a decaying relic. Its grand halls echo with emptiness. The iconic swimming pool, where emperors once relaxed, is dry and cracked. Its rooms are inhabited by drug users, squatters, and the ghosts of a painful national past.
Henry Power Medwake, a neighbor who has witnessed the hotel’s decline, said: “After the war, displaced people came and settled here. During Ellen’s administration, they tried to renovate, but it never worked. Now it’s just abandoned with security.” We had a light here that used to direct the ships to the port but over 30 years ago this light been off.”
Many Liberians still hold out hope for its restoration. The Ducor Hotel remains more than just a building it is a monument to both the potential and the pain of Liberia’s past. Its future, however, hangs in uncertainty.
With ten stories towering above the city and unobstructed views of the ocean, the Ducor still holds promise. But whether it will ever be revived remains a question for both Liberian authorities and the international players still tied to its fate.
