Mövenpick Hotel Sana'a

The Mövenpick opened on Berlin Street in Sana'a's diplomatic quarter shortly before Yemen's conflict began, and it has remained the capital's principal international-standard hotel through the years since—the working base for United Nations agencies, humanitarian organisations and the rare official delegation. Set on elevated ground at around 2,200 metres, it looks across the mountain-ringed bowl that holds the city, with the towers of the old town visible in the distance.

The hotel itself is a substantial modern property: several hundred rooms, generous public areas, restaurants serving Yemeni and international menus, and grounds that include an outdoor pool and gym. Standards are kept up to a level that surprises first-time visitors, a reflection of an experienced staff and the hotel's importance to the organisations that depend on it. Security arrangements are extensive and professional.

It must be said plainly: Yemen remains subject to the most serious travel warnings, and leisure travel is not currently realistic. This entry exists for the professionals whose work brings them to Sana'a, and as a record of a remarkable institution—and of a city whose ancient tower-houses are among the wonders of the Arab world, awaiting better days.