Banksy Opens Bethlehem Hotel with 'Worst View in the World'

[uk666 5,298]

Banksy Opens Bethlehem Hotel with 'Worst View in the World'

 

An Israeli watchtower seen from one of the rooms of the Walled Off Hotel in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. 

 

Anonymous British street artist Banksy has opened The Walled Off Hotel in Palestinian town Bethlehem that, according to its owner, has “the worst view of any hotel in the world.” 

 

The graffiti artist, who remain anonymous, created the guest house in Bethlehem. Famous for the birth of Christ, the city is also in the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Banksy has put the hotel beside the infamous security barrier which was erected by Israel in 2002 during the second Intifada.

 

This guesthouse, museum, gallery, and protest, that’s all rolled into one, sits right next to the controversial wall that divides Israel from Palestinian territories. Banksy hopes the lodge will attract Israeli tourists and ignite dialogue about what’s happening at the West Bank city. 

 

“Walls are hot right now, but I was into them long before [Donald] Trump made it cool,” said the artist. 

 

A Banksy wall mural in one of the guest rooms of the hotel

 

In addition to Banksy artworks, creative pieces by Palestinian artists will also be featured inside the hotel. Banksy announced the lodge with a picture of one of its murals on Instagram–breaking the artist’s silence on the platform spanning nearly two years. 

 

"It's been pretty mental to be honest. It's been a crazy journey just (being) locked in here," laughed Dominique Petrin, a Montreal-based artist who was invited to do one of the rooms.

 

She has spent the last month locked in her room, not allowed to see the rest of the hotel. Her room is the most conservatively decorated... to a point.

 

"I made this room like a nice, lushy, colonial room," said Petrin, "but when you look at some details, you see something is really going wrong. You know when things are going so good, but at the same time it's apart?"

 

Each room has its own unique style. One room is painted to look like the guest is surrounded by concrete walls, and yet somehow, the room still manages to feel comfortable.

 

Another room feels like an army barracks -- furnished with bunk beds with foot lockers.

 

The presidential suite, complete with its own mini-theater, study, and bar, also has a luxurious jacuzzi. But the water for the jacuzzi comes from what appears to be a water tank speckled with bullet holes.