Kabul Serena Hotel

The Kabul Serena, opened in 2005 by the Aga Khan Development Network on the site of the old Kabul Hotel, has for two decades been the city's benchmark address and one of the few in the country run to international standards. The design draws deeply on Afghan craft traditions—carved cedar, Herati glasswork, hand-knotted carpets and courtyard gardens with fountains—assembled by regional artisans, and the interiors remain among the most beautiful expressions of the country's heritage anywhere.

Rooms are comfortable and traditionally styled around the courtyards, and the hotel's facilities—gardens, an indoor pool and fitness area, and restaurants serving Afghan and international cuisine—have long made it the centre of the capital's diplomatic and organisational life. Service, in the Serena manner, is notably gracious. The central Shahr-e-Naw location places it near the city's parks and ministries.

Any consideration of travel to Afghanistan must lead with the security context: most governments advise against travel to the country, conditions can change quickly, and the hotel itself has been the target of attacks in past years, operating today behind extensive security screening. For the limited number of organisational, humanitarian and specialist travellers who do visit Kabul, the Serena remains the established choice, valued for its standards, its gardens and its custodianship of Afghan craft.