BAMIAN, Afghanistan — The two hotels are separated by a 400-yard stretch of asphalt road, but they seem worlds apart. What unites them are the remains of a pair of giant Buddha statues, one behind each, and the history of Afghanistan’s Bamian Valley — its fortune fluctuating with that of the Buddhas.

The Gholghola Hotel is a $5 million property with luxury suites and 99 items on the menu, including Ukrainian salad and spaghetti Bolognese.

Down the road is a two-room adobe hut, rented for $50 a month on a yearly contract — or until the municipality of this central Afghan province comes to raze it. It’s called the Fairness Hotel (for men and women), based on the sign to the right side of the property, or the Mohammed Hussain Hotel, according to the sign on the face of the property.

“We have beans, and we have soup,” Mr. Hussain declares as soon as a new guest walks in.

The Fairness Hotel is not really a hotel. It’s more a side-of-the-road joint, with a back room that a friend from Mr. Hussain’s village uses as overnight storage for the cabbage and squash he sells in the bazaar.