Hotel Oloffson is an old "gingerbread" mansion, built in the late 1800s by the then president of Haiti as a home. It has a long and rich history. It was converted into a military hospital by the U.S. Marines during the First World War. In 1935 it was converted into a Hotel and has been in operation since. It was bought by a man in 1995 who emphasized the theme of vodou in much of its decoration and embellishments.The hotel was the inspiration for the "Hotel Trianon", at the center of Graham Greene's novel "The Comedians" and the movie of the same name. Hundreds of famous people have stayed in the hotel, and many of them have written about it: Jackie O. and Ari, Mick Jagger, Liz Taylor, John Barrymore, Barry Goldwater, Lillian Hellman, Jimmy Buffett. It is set in the city on a steep hillside with a view of the ocean and port, surrounded by lush tropical gardens.
Gene and Jan took me here for lunch on my last day in Haiti. I leave for the airport in a few minutes for my flight home.
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| Gene and Jan on the portico in front of a vodou icon representing King Christophe. |
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| Christian religious iconography gets conflated with African animism in Vodou. |
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| The spirit of the vodou dead |
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