The Ducor Palace Hotel stands on a hilltop above Monrovia's centre, its concrete skeleton visible from much of the city. Once one of West Africa's most prestigious hotels — six storeys, a rooftop pool, panoramic views over the Atlantic — it closed in 1989 as the first civil war approached and has never reopened. The shell remains structurally intact, looted and overgrown but not collapsed.
Informal tours of the ruins can be arranged through local guides who gather near the entrance. The hilltop views from the upper floors — ocean on one side, the city and lagoons on the other — are among the best in Monrovia. The building has become an emblem of Liberia's interrupted ambitions, a recurring image in photography and journalism about the country's recovery. It is a sobering and strangely compelling place.