For centuries a place of pilgrimage, the ancient Biblical town of Madaba opened its first three-star hotel on Tuesday as part of a strategy to encourage visitors to stop over, while providing job opportunities for local people. The Madaba Inn Hotel, owned by the Social Security Corporation, is situated in the heart of the town opposite the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, famous for its 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land.

Munther Hamarneh, director of accommodation and public relations at the hotel, told The Jordan Times that the hotel was constructed following a feasibility study. "The rationale behind the establishment of the hotel is to encourage tourists to stay in Madaba overnight, rather than just visiting the archaeological sites in one day due to a lack of suitable accommodation," said Hamarneh.

Source: [The Jordan Times]

This piece of news about my hometown of Madaba has pleased me to no end. I expressed my infatuation with Madaba in an earlier post so I won’t add more to it here. I’m just looking forward to visiting this hotel on my next visit to Jordan.