The Holiday Inn was built for the 1984 Olympics Game and became famous as the headquarters of the international war reporter during the conflict in Yugoslavia in the nineties. Symbol of the Bosnian capital, the hotel opening in October 1983 officially presented by the President of the International Olympic Committee Antonio Samaranch. Holiday Inn was the first US franchised hotel in Eastern Europe. It is the last hotel of its size that remains authentic in terms of architecture and design from the Yugoslavian period.

Designed by Ivan Straus became a source of controversy in Sarajevo City for it's cubic architecture, yellow ocher and brown color deviating from the boundary of gray buildings all around making it different from all other hotels of the Holiday Inn. Since the early nineties was used as a meeting place to regulate political parties like Bosnian Serb Party (SDS).

Sniper Alley

Born as a symbol and grown with pride by Sarajeviti, the Hotel was stormed by the Bosnian government forces were operating on the famous "Sniper Alley", Avenue of the snipers. During the war, the entire hotel was an important figure in the black market with diesel fuel that was used to heat the rooms during the winter and the basic operating of all media (TV, press, journalists) who followed during those four years the evolution of a violent war. In 2003 the property was sold by the Austrian Government to 'Alpha Baumanagement' company. Privatisation started slowly and dismembered Hotel and some areas have been sold to individuals or to other small companies. For 280 employees, of which the mean age is 40 years old, it began a wave of protests in the hotel lobby. The request to all employees is to receive salaries that some are still around 8 months. Some of them also have investments in the state quotas of the hotel. Since 2013, Hotel has lost the license of international chain 'Holiday Inn' becoming only 'Holiday'.