My next stop was the Taj Palace hotel in Mumbai – the scene of last week's tragic killings and siege. At the time, there was next to no security. That looks bad now. But the sad truth is that you can have very tight checks at these hotels and still be vulnerable. I also stayed at the Marriott in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, earlier this year. All cars entering its driveway were checked for explosives. But a couple of months ago, it was still destroyed by a bomb that caused scores of death.
Experts on terrorism will be poring over the attacks on Mumbai, looking for lessons and ideas. Here are three. First, hotels are increasingly the targets of choice for terrorists. Second, south Asia rather than the Middle East is the centre of the problem. Finally, terror thrives off conflict: so provoking a war between India and Pakistan would count as a triumph for the people who attacked Mumbai.
Five-star hotels in poor countries market themselves as sanctuaries, but increasingly they are targets. The list of hotels that have come under attack by terrorists now includes the Taj and the Oberoi in Mumbai, the Marriott in Islamabad, the Serena in Kabul, the Grand Hyatt and Radisson in Amman, the Hilton in Taba and the Marriott in Jakarta. Hotels in Europe or North America could easily be next.