| Sheraton Ishtar | |
|---|---|
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Opening date | 1982 |
The Ishtar Sheraton Hotel (Arabic,فندق شيراتون عشتار)is a hotel in Baghdad, Iraq located on Firdos Square. It is the tallest building in Baghdad, and the tallest structure in Iraq after the Baghdad Tower.
Despite its name, the hotel has had nothing to do with the Sheraton Hotel chain for nearly twenty years. The chain severed their management contract with the Iraqi Government, which built the property, during the 1991 Gulf War and the name has been used without permission ever since[1].
After it was opened in 1982, the Sheraton Ishtar was one of the most popular hotels in Baghdad. This changed after the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. While the hotel was briefly popular after the invasion with foreign journalists and contractors, its occupancy level dropped sharply.
The hotel, an obvious and imposing target, was periodically hit with mortar or rocket fire during the early years of the post-Saddam era. The structure was seriously damaged during a bomb attack in October 2005 and was closed for more than a year afterward.
37 were killed in a car bomb attack outside of the hotel on January 25, 2010.