There is some speculation as to the future of the Coral Beach Hotel. According to industry whispers, the Jnah resort,
a summer playground for Beirut’s moderately wealthy, is rumored to be in negotiations with a group of investors
who are interested in leasing with an option to buy.
Other versions on the same theme suggest that owner Izzat Kaddoura is keen to sell the property, estimated to be
worth around $30 million. Hotel Check-in has tried to reach Mr. Kaddoura to comment on the situation, but to no
avail.
Along with the Summerland and the Riviera (and to a lesser extent the St. Georges and the crumblingly chic Sporting
club), the Coral Beach has dominated the Beirut summer season. But with the increasing number of internationally
managed chains making their mark in the capital, and the imminent opening of the Phoenicia Inter-Continental and
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Movenpick resort on Raouche, the days of the independently run resort are said to be
numbered. “Unless they adapt, they have three years tops,” said an industry watcher. “It all boils down to the
kind of product on offer, and the chains are better and cheaper at offering the best.”
Sami Zoghbi, the Lebanese president of Starwood Hotels for Africa, the Middle East and India, has been voted Middle
Eastern Hotel Person of the Year by the US-based Travel Agent Magazine. The magazine said Zoghbi had led the regional
expansion of Starwood, which will shortly become the only hotel group with a presence in every Middle East capital
when it opens the Amman Sheraton.
One week after the latest round of Israeli air raids, reports are filtering through of cancellations. Sales and
publicity managers at top Beirut hotels are trying to put on their bravest faces but admit that some guests have
canceled, while travel agents express their frustration at the understandably difficult task of trying to market
Lebanon in the face of negative publicity. Others have decided to look to the future. “The Shopping Festival hasn’t
really happened for us,” said the manager of the Howard Johnson in Hamra. “We’re expecting better business in the
next couple of months.”
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom. Love was in the air on Monday night as many Beirut hotels reported brisk trade
on Valentine’s Day. Surely one of the most suitable places to state one’s amorous intentions is the top-floor restaurant
of the Hotel Albergo. It seems Lebanese Lotharios took the hint and, in the words of a hotel spokesperson, the
room was “completely overbooked.” Love conquers all.
Michael Karam
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