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Iraq to Get a Five-Star Hotel

Apparently even war zones need new five-star hotels because northern Iraq’s getting one in 2009: the Erbil Rotana Hotel is due to open as part of Rotana’s push to expand across the Middle East.

The Erbil Rotana sounds like a pretty run-of-the-mill luxury hotel with 205 rooms and a Bodylines health club. Erbil is a Kurdish city in the north and is actually fairly well served by international airlines--even Austrian Airlines lands there four times a week.

But nobody’s going so far as to say that this place is safe; Business Traveller says:

Terrorist activity is statistically lower than in the rest of Iraq ... the region’s security situation is “relatively benign”

Statistically lower risk? Well, sign us up for a double room please.

[Photo of downtown Erbil: ttmooney]