Guests at the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem on Tuesday admired the works of British street artist Banksy, whose wall paintings and other works adorn the establishment.
Three Banksy prints go under the hammer in Paris on Wednesday, a first auction of his works since a print that sold in London earlier this month for $1.37 million and was half shredded in a stunt after the hammer fell.
The hotel opened in June 2017. It has 10 rooms, ranging from a budget barracks-style accommodation for backpackers to a presidential suite that can sleep six.
The Bristol-based artist, who has become a global phenomenon over the past decade but whose real identity is a closely guarded secret, has described the guesthouse as having "the worst views of any hotel in the world."
That has not deterred guests.
"I came because I heard Banksy opened a new hotel and I was curious," a visitor from Melbourne, Australia, said last summer. "I wanted to check it out and check out the West Bank, too. The hotel with the worst views, that's quite interesting. It's unique."
Bethlehem Mayor Vera Baboun said when the hotel opened that while the town where Jesus was born already attracted a large number of tourists to sites such as the Church of the Nativity, the Walled Off Hotel added an extra dimension.
The hotel is "a very significant addition to the entity of Bethlehem as a touristic city," she said. "Having Banksy putting all his paintings in the hotel, it has significant political messages."
