When it opened its doors in 1955, the Grande Hotel in Beira, colonial Mozambique was touted as the largest and most luxurious hotel in Africa. The art deco style palace with uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean boasted 116 rooms and an Olympic sized swimming pool for its VIP guests. But by the 1970s, having spent less than a decade in service and many more in limbo, the Grande Hotel was serving as a military base in a city ravaged by civil war. The basement was converted into a prison. Today 2,500 squatters call the Grande Hotel their home.