Theme Week Beirut – The Corniche

15 February 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - Evan/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Evan/cc-by-2.0

The Corniche Beirut is a seaside promenade in Beirut Central District, in Beirut. Lined with palm trees, the waterfront esplanade offers visitors a magnificent view of the Mediterranean and the summits of Mount Lebanon to the east. Corniche Beirut has its foundation in the Avenue des Français, which was built during the period of the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon along the seafront that extended from the old town.   read more…

Theme Week Beirut – The Phoenicia

1 February 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Hussein Abdallah/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Hussein Abdallah/cc-by-2.0

The Phoenicia Hotel Beirut is a historic 5-star luxury hotel situated in the Minet El Hosn neighborhood of Beirut in Lebanon. It is located on Rue Fakhreddine near the Corniche Beirut promenade and walking-distance from Beirut Central District, and a few kilometers from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. The Phoenicia is part of the worldwide InterContinental Hotels Group, but it dropped the actual use of the chain name in 2012. The Phoenicia was built by the Lebanese businessman Najib Salha, who founded La Société des Grands Hotels du Liban (SGHL) in 1953. It was designed by the noted American architect Edward Durell Stone, working with American architect Joseph Salerno and local architects Ferdinand Dagher and Rodolphe Elias. The design showed Levantine influences in its high ceilings, sweeping staircases and palatial pillars. The hotel’s interiors and furniture were contracted to the New York firm of William M. Ballard and were designed by Neal Prince, who was responsible for the interior decoration of most Intercontinental Hotels at the time.   read more…

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