Chapter 4.
The twenty-story hotel wasn’t the tallest in the area, but it was the nicest and most elaborate in Alexandria. The building stood at the back of a huge cul-de-sac that extended out into the bay. A narrow tree-lined boulevard connected the cul-de-sac to the mainland.
The hotel was flanked on the left by a casino, and on the right by a marina. Directly in front of the hotel a heliport accommodated up to a dozen helicopters. Oddly, not a car or limo could be seen anywhere.
When the facility was completed two years earlier, the public was invited to come and participate in the grand opening. News media from around the world came to record the event. The boulevard was filled bumper-to-bumper with vehicles carrying the general citizenry, eager to see the magnificent new complex.
Tours were organized. Guides lead groups of people through the beautiful facility. At the marina they could witness VIPs arriving on their private yachts. Across the tarmac, helicopters arrived every few minutes. Kings, shahs, and potentates from around the Med took this occasion to come and be seen by the public.
The inside of the hotel was a magnificent structure in its own right. Twenty-foot tall columns lined the perimeter of the grand lobby. Huge tapestries hung on thick hand-carved granite walls. High above, crystal chandeliers hung from the domed ceiling, giving light to the huge windowless room.
Tourists were herded through the grand entrance and across inlaid marble floors, past the reception center, to a bank of six elevators on the opposite side of the room. Each one was large enough to hold as many as two-dozen people.
Each of the guest rooms was actually a suite of rooms. As few as three and as many as a dozen rooms were each individually and lavishly furnished. Guests marvelled at the luxury and attention to detail exhibited in each one. As was customary in this land of opulence, no expense had been spared.
The elevators only went up to the 15th floor. The top five floors were accessed from three elevators located in a concealed room behind the main lobby. One was a service elevator. The other two were for ‘special’ guests only. They only went up to the 19th floor. The top floor could only be accessed by the service elevator.
Only a select few had access to the top floor. In addition to the elevator lifting systems, it also housed the entire cul-de-sac’s security and defense systems. This fact, of course was not known by the general public.
After a quick walk-through of a few guest suites, the gawking tourists were ushered back into the elevators where they were whisked back down to the ground floor.
The tour ended in the casino, where guests were allowed to spend a few minutes lounging, gambling or visiting before being shepherded back outside to waiting limos.
For months after it’s opening, the hotel enjoyed full booking. The media proclaimed it to be the new Riviera of the Mediterranean. Celebrities and the wealthy of the world came to see and be seen.
Now two years later, the limos were gone. The parking lots and marina slips were vacant. Aside from a minimal staff, the hotel itself was empty. The boulevard which provided access had mysteriously ‘washed out’ several months earlier, and little effort had been made to repair it.