The Serena Hotel in Kabul is owned and operated by Ismailis.

According to a statement on a Taliban website, the nearby Serena Hotel and government buildings were the intended target for the attack.

Støre and his entourage were staying in the Serena Hotel, as were several foreign reporters and diplomats.

Another section of the fort's residential area is being used as a hotel, operated by Serena Hotels.

After the attack on the Serena Hotel on 14 January 2008, the decision was made to send a team of military explosives experts to Kabul.

The food at the Serena Hotel is uniformly interesting and well prepared.

The Serena Hotel, also downtown, is the other business-class option (254-20-2822000; www.serenahotels.com).

(Nov 17, 2010) The crowd gathered at the traffic circle next to the Serena Hotel has dispersed and the situation has returned to normal.

At the Serena Hotel, a Kalashnikov-toting police officer rides with every car leaving the compound.

She had offered to drive him to the airport but he preferred to take a taxi from the Serena Hotel.