Baghdad’s hospitality and property markets prove it’s on a flourishing rebound
For decades, two stalwarts have defined Baghdad’s unlikely luxury hospitality scene: the Babylon Rotana and Al Rasheed. As global brands withdrew after the 2003 invasion, these two hotels held out by pivoting to a different type of luxury: guards, bomb-sniffing dogs and the thickest of walls.
But with the security situation now improved, property investment in the Iraqi capital is growing. Today the average price per square metre in its most affluent neighbourhoods has soared to about $8,000 (€6,900). Drawn by this optimistic climate, new luxury hotels are competing to attract a rising number of businessmen, diplomats and tourists passing through.
Duha Azawi is part of the marketing team at the Mövenpick Al Zaytoon, opening in 2026 in the formerly militarised Green Zone. “For years, big international or global chains haven’t really had a presence in Baghdad, especially not in hospitality,” she tells Monocle. “Now that the country is fully open, lots of people are starting to come to see Baghdad and Iraq. We’re here to serve them.”
In the Green Zone, reinforced steel gates have been replaced by an open vista that frames the area’s wide boulevards and wafting palm trees. “Baghdad has always had a lot of money but in recent years people have been afraid to invest it here,” says Haider Hassan, who works in Baghdad real estate. Now, however, Rixos hotel group is building a luxury hotel, which will open in early 2026 and sales of private flats in the complex are already under way.
Improved security and the lifting of movement restrictions have injected new life and value into property around the airport, long dominated by the military and a large US base. Now it’s being snapped up by Qatari and Saudi firms faster than it can be put on the market.
Investment in Baghdad’s infrastructure includes more than 20 bridges and overpasses to ease congestion, as well as upgrades to the city’s hospitals. Banking regulations have been eased and the smoothing of international transfers and the widespread introduction of card-payment facilities have boosted confidence. Not so long ago, the sound of destruction echoed through Baghdad but now the booms are those of construction.
