The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan

by Lyse Doucet

In 1969, the luxury Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors: a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistan’s hopes of becoming a modern country, connected to the world.

Lyse Doucet first checked into the Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul in 1988. In the decades since, she has witnessed a Soviet evacuation, a devastating civil war, the US invasion, and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban, all from within its increasingly battered walls. The Inter-Con has never closed its doors.

Now, she weaves together the experiences of the Afghans who have kept the hotel running to craft a richly immersive history of their country. It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel’s 1970s glory days – an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the ‘Paris of Central Asia’. Of Abida, who became the first female chef after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-somethings who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy – only to see the Taliban come roaring back in 2021.

Through these intimate portraits of Afghan life, the story of a hotel becomes the story of a people.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Middle East, Politics, Historical, Journalism

448 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An impressionistic account of fifty years in the history of Afghanistan from Canadian journalist and Chief International Correspondent for the BBC, Lyse Doucet. Doucet first travelled to Afghanistan in 1988 during the era when Afghanistan was under Soviet control. Once there she stayed at Kabul’s famed Inter-Continental hotel, her brief to report on the Red Army’s impending withdrawal. Doucet uses the Inter-Con to chronicle the changes that Afghan citizens have lived through since early 1971 when it was still Zahir Shah’s kingdom – widely known as the Paris of Central Asia. Doucet draws primarily on interviews with Inter-Con staff past and present, their stories translated then framed by Doucet’s independent research. Rather than narrator, Doucet becomes just one of the many figures who’ve passed through the hotel’s doors. Her interviewees demonstrate the personal experience – and not inconsiderable personal cost – of living in Afghanistan as it lurched from one regime to another, from one invading force to the next.

Perhaps inevitably, it’s an elegiac piece as figures like Hazrat who came to the hotel when it opened in 1969, deal with the hotel’s rise and fall, finally finding himself made redundant, his life turned upside down by the resurgence of Taliban rule. We’re introduced to women, like widow Abida known for her mouthwatering dumplings, who have the added burden of dealing with periods of being excluded from public life and work. It’s a vivid, often moving piece although I’m not sure that it lives up to its subtitle as a ‘people’s history’ I think my understanding was enhanced by having read other books about Afghanistan such as Christina Lamb’s Farewell Kabul which delved further into the broader socio-political contexts. But Doucet’s work is accessible and compassionate, I appreciated her attempts to decentre herself, refusing to pose as outsider expert. Afghanistan has had more than enough outside perspectives imposed on it as well as so-called ‘foreign experts' intervening in its affairs – including representatives of my own country which had its own shameful part to play in Afghanistan's troubled trajectory.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Allen Lane for an ARC

[Judith E · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of Soviet Union, U.S., al-Queda, and multiple Taliban invasions, the Inter-Continental hotel in Kabul has survived, although barely and with numerous extensive rebuildings. Author Doucet has used the hotel’s setting and its employees to show the chaos and destruction that has befallen Afghanistan and how society continues to suffer and survive. The hotel has been in the middle of air bombings, suicide bombers, firefights, and political conclaves.

Women are manipulated by religious fundamentalist groups and this was the most unsettling to me. I found the detail of rebuilding the hotel interfered with my interest in the political and social details of the community.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyse Doucet's The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan took me to a place I haven't done much reading about generally, and specifically that which I have done has not been of the urban areas. This author gives history of the Intercontinental from its first days to present, and she tells the tales from the POV of the building and its community of guardians - from cooks, cleaners, to commercial staff, schedulers, managers and guests (and sometimes not guests).

A sobering introduction to an amazing place and resilient people. In Lyse Doucet they have a fond advocate with her stories of their loyal spirits and devotion to the land of their ancestors.

*A sincere thank you to Lyse Doucet, Penguin Random House Canada | Allen Lane, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* 26|52:19a

[Bethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by the BBC's chief international correspondent, this reads rather like a foreign correspondent broadcast. The idea is to relay the history and story of the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan. As you can imagine, a lot of regime changes and terrorist attacks, interspersed with the personal stories of some of the hotel's employees and how the hotel has changed through different regimes.

Afghanistan just seems like a mess - they can't seem to decide whether to be very conservative and religious or to include women and develop along the lines of the West with little happy medium. No doubt that it doesn't help that the British, Russians and Americans keep interfering in equally such a blunt and brutal way - which leads to that I think I wanted to see more analysis as well as personal experiences and views from Doucet here to make me feel more connected to the book. Doucet even refers to herself in the third person!

[Denise Ruttan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the denizens of the luxury hotel of Kabul, the Inter-Continental, through the years of war and everyday laughter, as told through the eyes of BBC investigative correspondent and Canadian Lyse Doucet, who conducted extensive interviews with hotel staff as she stayed at the hotel throughout the decades.

It was a bit of an odd choice for a non-Afghani to take herself completely out of the story except for the prologue and epilogue, and refer to her forays as a journalist in the third person, as if she were just a small part of the landscape. I find it annoying when journalists cling to the myth of objectivity in such a way that it becomes a sort of bias of its own. Her position as an outsider and a foreigner is inevitably going to color the stories she can tell; not that I feel only Afghanis can tell these stories, far from it.

Her position as an outsider gave the story its unique scope and vantage point, but in her effort to remove her personal touch from the narrative and focus solely on Afghanis and their stories, I think she did something of a disservice to their stories. They would have been stronger with more of her story in the mix too.

I couldn't help but wonder if the glowing drive these Afghani hotel staff felt toward their jobs was influenced by telling their stories to a Western journalist writing a book about the hotel; even if they knew her well did they onlly tell her the most positive spin?

Regardless, I found this a gripping narrative, not a dry just-the-facts reporting that I expected from a journalist. I got to know the hotel staff through intimate portraits of their personal lives and daily work days. I felt the stories of Afghani hotel staff were put front and center and felt strongly for them as their hotel endured many years of war, occupation, and various ruling powers, even as life went on under crushing oppression. I could really picture the heyday of a vibrant Kabul full of sophistication and promise, and ached at its loss.

Grand hotels like this often feel like ghosts lost to time, with stories and magic of their own; this book captured the magic of a beloved luxury hotel and the resilience of its survival. It was an interesting perspective on the history of the city through the years of war and the sadness of weddings interrupted. Above all, despite the depressing subject matter, I felt it had a hopeful message.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Obaidullah Baheer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this book a few days ago. I still feel heavy. It would have been natural of Lyse, with her extensive background in Afghanistan, to set herself at the center of this book. Yet, she chooses to give the spotlight and the narrative to those who worked at the Intercontinental. A sixty-year history of Afghanistan is told through the eyes of the Intercon and its people. This book is not a journalist's verdict on a history or its actors but just a story of all that happened; its ugly, sad and beautiful parts.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kept thinking, I don't want to read this, it's going to be sad, but then I'd look up and an hour had passed without my noticing it. Back when I was first discovering podcasts, I used to listen to the daily BBC World News and heard a lot from Lyse Doucet, whose name struck me because it's Acadian, so this book caught my eye immediately.

Many of us in the US had barely heard of Afghanistan prior to about 1979. In the 1980s, the US administration made big noises about supporting the mujahideen in their battle against the Soviet invaders, but it seemed remote and unreal - mujahi-who? Of course in 2001 it suddenly became a real place on our radar, and it has been ever since. Maybe other images also come to mind - a photograph of a blue-eyed girl on a magazine cover, or women completely shrouded in blue burqas from head to toe, barely able to see the world through tiny black screens.

Doucet tells us the history of Afghanistan since the late 1960s through the history of the Hotel Intercontinental in Kabul and the Afghans who worked there, both men and women. With each regime change, the people and the hotel accommodated as best they could to whatever it was they were supposed to do and wear, and kept on. Of course things are much more complex, less black-and-white, than they seemed at the time - even the mujahideen are not all Taliban, just to name one. The periods of Taliban rule are the grimmest for everyone whose story is told here, because it's hard to entertain tourists or have weddings in a hotel where music is prohibited and men and women may not attend the same party. As the book ends, it remains to be seen whether things will return to the same repression.

Doucet clearly has affection for the people she knew while reporting from central Asia, and took the time to hear from them about their worlds. It's too bad the NetGalley version of this did not have the photos, I'll have to find it at the library when it comes out so I can see their faces.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book.

[Jolanta (knygupė)]

3,5*

[Amanda Nicoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book

[Sarah Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strong first half but it totally needed an edit. Wish this was also in doco form

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Christine Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just released today: The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet
A Thoughtful Start—for the IHG faithful

Imagine arriving as a Diamond and IHG Ambassador for your first stay at the Kabul InterContinental. The swimming pool is closed. There are no eggs at breakfast. No suite upgrade. No Wi-Fi. Just one telephone in the entire hotel—a satellite phone at the front desk. The Taliban have taken over the property. You recalibrate. Expectations shift. You realize you probably won't be getting any points for this stay.

I was genuinely excited for this book—especially as someone who runs our IHG fan group with 25K members and shares a deep interest in InterContinental properties. The premise is compelling: a people’s history of Afghanistan, centered on the Kabul InterContinental. What we get is a mosaic of voices—journalists, poets, hotel workers, dreamers—woven together with reverence.

The tone and structure didn’t immediately resonate with me. I’ve read The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel—a tightly constructed, emotionally resonant account that shows what this book might have aspired to. I’ve read several journalist-authored books this year—many by broadcast veterans—and three were truly disappointing. So I knew I’d be a tough audience going in. I approached this one with skepticism.

The historical layer feels more like a sketch than a deep dive, but perhaps that’s the point. This isn’t a historian’s account—it’s a journalist’s perspective, shaped by her own time staying at the InterContinental. And yes, Doucet narrates the audiobook herself. I sampled it. Reverent, flat, oddly distant. I’m not sure why so many authors choose to do this—it rarely serves the material.

Curiously, Doucet refers to herself in the third person when recounting her own stay at the InterContinental—naming herself among the guests rather than simply saying “I.” It’s a small choice, but it adds to the book’s sense of remove. For a story so rooted in place, I found myself wishing for a more direct, embodied voice.

Still, I’m glad this book exists. It’s not quite what I hoped for, but it’s a meaningful gesture toward a place that deserves to be remembered. I’ll be curious to hear how others in our group respond—especially those who’ve stayed at the Kabul InterContinental or have a soft spot for hotel storytelling done right.

[Ruthie Turpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I loved the concept of tracing Afghan history through the life of the Inter-Con Hotel in Kabul. And in some ways it worked. I think the author is a journalist and the book read like one very, very long article with a lot of interesting facts and anecdotes but little character development and heart. I did appreciate learning the history and reading about the resilience of the Afghan people.

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard Lyse Doucet's enchanting accent while watching the BBC in New Delhi during the 1990s. At the time, I assumed that her nasally brogue sprang from an upbringing in an obscure corner of Ireland or the UK. Turns out, she's from New Brunswick. Once you realize that she's Canadian, the accent starts to make a lot more sense. For the past 30 years, that accent has carried the BBC news from hotspots throughout South Asia and the Middle East. Whether I was living in India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, or the United States, Lyse was like a trusted friend helping to make sense of often tragic events.

Telling the recent history of Afghanistan through the staff and guests of a 5-star hotel may seem elitist, but it's a conceit that recognizes the unique place of a top-tier hotel in a developing and/or troubled country. Sit in the lobby of one of these hotels for an evening and you will see international flight crews, senior government officials, investors from multinational corporations, local celebrities, foreign journalists, diplomats, foreign buyers, spies, and local tycoons. The world is small at the top layer of society in a developing country and it often converges on these hotels for weddings, conferences, receptions, and dinners.

The Intercontinental in Kabul was such a hotel and "Lyse Doucet" (as she was called by the staff) spent a fair amount of time there during her reporting trips--enough to develop relationships with key staff members and their families. Workers at top-tier hotels are also unique in a developing country. Hiring is highly competitive and workers, who become culturally bilingual through their jobs, are often representative of a class of talented strivers, providing a unique window into local society.

Ideally, a hotel like the Intercontinental Kabul eventually faces competition from new three, four, and five star hotels as a county develops, thus losing its status (though not necessarily its stars) as a country's primary gathering spot for foreign visitors and local elites. Sadly, while the Intercon Kabul has faced limited competition, its history reflects the political turmoil that has harmed Afghanistan over the past 30 years. Suicide bombings, Taliban management, a dearth of foreign visitors, and foreign invasions have all contributed to the slow demise of a hotel that was once a Kabul landmark. Lyse Doucet tells the story of the hotel, Afghanistan, and Afghanis with heart and hard-earned experience.

[Becky R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of a hotel, used to show the shifting tides of political and religious unrest, reflects back to us the sad truths of Afghanistan’s people. Wishing for peace and the ability to live a life surrounded by family and friends, this country has reeled to and fro with regime and political changes, conflict and calm times, and open and closed moments. As the book neared the American withdrawal, I realized the sad truths ahead for Afghanistan and its people—especially its female population.

I ended this with a tear on my face and a knot in my stomach. In truth, the people of Afghanistan are not free. Countries of the world debate the rights of women and even democracy. Have we learned anything at all as human beings on this little rock, shuttling around the sun? I fear not. Those in power continue to wish to subjugate any and all within their power, whether guided by religion, politics, nationalism, or capitalism. Mankind continues to suffer. Womankind continues to take the brunt of it all.

This book is brilliant. It is engaging. It is stirring. Read it and consider what we each do to feed the soulless beasts that rule. Consider.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot remember reading a more engrossing book on contemporary world history in many years. Doucet has framed the perilous, confusing, unfathomable transitions in Afghan political leadership by using, literally, the scaffolding of the once-glamorous , storied, Intercontinental Hotel Kabul—its spaces , their decor, their uses, its guests, and its staff—to lead us through the confusing, frustrating, terrifying
regime changes that we should know more about, considering our complicity, but do not.

Through first person accounts, she has humanized a distant struggle and made it so much more immediate. This is a book I will be recommending over and over. I might even suggest it to a certain personage who is extremely ready, at any given moment, to condemn and vilify refugees to which we promised aid and succor which we very clearly owed them.

[Debby Binns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the abridged version of this on BBC Sounds and I want to read the full book – but I don’t think listening to this would spoil the book. It tells the troubled tale of Afghanistan's modern history. It’s told using the Intercontinental as its central theme, weaving the experience of the Afghans who have kept the hotel running. This builds a richly immersive history of their country and its various tragedies.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is deceptive: it sets the expectation that this is a book about the history of Afghanistan, which it isn’t. On the one hand, it covers only the past fifty years or so and has the narrow focus of the Inter-Continental Hotel and its immediate surroundings. Furthermore, the author is a journalist and journalists seem to think that history is just a chain of events. There is a lack of connection to overall larger events here, though, and an absence of analysis and depth.
That said, the premise of the book as a journalistic account of the events in this hotel, told by its employees, is well found. A lot of the descriptions have obviously been embellished and romanticised by the author, but the result is an easily read account of events that is somewhat embedded in the overall history of Afghanistan in the past fifty years.
For a real history of Afghanistan, read Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield.

[Sanjay Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author - an international correspondent with BBC - provides an absorbing people’s history of Afghanistan through the narration of the history of the Intercontinental Hotel (Inter-Con) in Kabul - from its inauguration in 1969 till date. The account of how the hotel ownership and management changed hands during the protracted wars in Afghanistan and people who worked there makes for interesting reading.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A fascinating look at the personal history of Afghanistan told through the eyes of a hotel, it's owners, workers, patrons, and fans.

I love Doucet's journalism, and I missed her personal touch and analysis here. She even referred to herself in third person! I would have loved more in-depth political nuance.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books presents the history of Afghanistan by using the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and it's staff as the setting. The author has personal experience staying at this hotel and has great respect for the country and its people. This read like a very personal family history, which was extremely interesting, informative and enjoyable.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the life of a hotel in Kabul and how its success and failure is synonymous with the rise and fall of Afghanistan.

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

5** A deeply moving read that stirred nostalgia and reminded me of the quiet resilience of people who have endured so much, yet continue to hold onto hope with remarkable strength.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting perspective on the last 50 years of Afghan history.

[Ann Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyse Doucet delivers a vivid account of Afghanistan's troubled modern history, uniquely framed through the eyes of the staff at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.

Doucet's writing is gorgeous, vividly detailing its improbable history: it hosted the hedonistic hippie trail, endured republics, civil war, the Taliban's rule, Western alliances, and even two suicide bombings—yet its doors always remained open.

The audiobook, read by Lyse Doucet, truly brings the hotel and its resilient staff to life. You finish this read with a profound respect for the Afghan people and heartfelt wish for peace for that country.

[Robin Newbold · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was a complete slog. Lyse Doucet is one of the BBC’s best correspondents, with a fascinating life reporting from war zones yet she only appears in this story in third person. The bulk is reduced to pen portraits of workers in a hotel. Baffling!

[Hadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways, I really loved this book: Doucet has a lovely and beautiful writing style and she really does make you feel as if you are in the scene. Her scenes were often poignant and she really does know how to tell the stories of people she interviews. I actually respect Doucet for not writing the book from her own perspective as there are no shortage of those type of books from reporters.

However, I often found its treatment of religion, in particular, quite one-dimensional. There are hints that she considers religion more multi-dimensional than she often portrays it - for example, "modern, Western" hotel employers are also "observant" Muslims. But often Islam is seen through her portrayal of the Taliban and I think that was a missed opportunity as too often I feel she falls into the cliche of Islam (and traditionalism) vs the West (and modernity). Given the audience of her book, I can't chide her too much for this but it still made me want to put the book down at multiple points in time.

More broadly though, I would caution anyone against reading this book and hoping to understand a "people's history of Afghanistan." The book is a snapshot of one very famous hotel over 50+ years of Afghan history, told through the voices of a selected handful of people who Doucet interviewed in the process of writing this book and who she knew personally over the years. It most definitely should not be treated as a singular read to understanding what is an extremely complicated topic.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley for an ALC of this book*

This book is everything one could want in a nonfiction title. It has beautiful, human stories told with grace, history defining moments told with clarity, and a narrative style that made me never want to put it down.

I know Lyse Doucet from her work as a BBC correspondent and presenter of the BBC News podcast. She does a fabulous job reading her book and bringing the feelings of the Intercontinental hotel to life.

There are real people telling the story of living through the tumultuous modern history of Afghanistan and the use of the hotel as the touchpoint for the history of Kabul and its inhabitants means that the fears and triumphs are concrete rather than abstract news stories.

I cannot recommend this title enough, even if Afghan history is not something that you would usually read, this should be the one book you pick up on the subject.

[Ubah Khasimuddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book by a reporter who I actual respect as a very good reporter. Lyse Doucet charts the modern history of Kabul through the life of the Kabul InterContinental hotel. It is fascinating! I just the vaguest of history of Afghanistan, this book really helped me understand - the poor people of Afghanistan have gone through a dizzying array of government styles, from a kingdom (with a king) to socialist/communism to anarchy (war-lords) to the Taliban, to the Americans and now back to the Taliban.
What I really enjoyed is that Doucet tells us this history through stories of employees at this hotel and how the hotel has evolved with the changing morals of the various governments (had a pool, didn't have a pool, had a mixed restaurant, than a wall separating men/women, had music in the lobby than had no music). I felt like I was there as she described the hill that the hotel stands on, the fancy restaurants, the weddings, even the hotel rooms.
She didn't harp too much on the two terror attacks that occurred at the hotel and for that I was grateful. Those incidents could have taken over the book and I think would have overshadowed the main theme of the hotel and Kabul in an ever changing political landscape.
I would highly recommend for anyone who wants to learn more about Afghanistan or that region. I think also just a good read if you are on a long flight, you will feel more educated after reading it, trust me.

[Bronwen Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, starting with Lyse Doucet's first visit in 1988, soon after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, and finishing with her final visit in 2021 with the arrival of the Taliban. But this is not a reporter's story, this is the story of the men and women who ran the hotel over all those years, years in which sometimes there was peace, but most often there was conflict. This is such a humane and hopeful book, and even though things are very dark in Afghanistan now, you feel that the people will pull through somehow. At least reading this book I felt that hope and possibility.