| InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut | |
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| Location | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Coordinates | |
| Opening date | 1961 |
| Architect | Edward Durell Stone |
| Rooms | 418 |
| Suites | 44 |
| Restaurants | 7 |
| Parking | yes |
| Website | www.phoenicia-ic.com |
The InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut is a 5-star hotel in Beirut, 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.[1]
The Phoenicia was built by the Lebanese businessman Najib Salha, who founded La Société des Grands Hotels du Liban. It was designed by the American architect Edward Durell Stone, with Levantine influences evident in its high ceilings, sweeping staircases and palatial pillars.[2] The hotel opened in December 1961. It had 600 rooms and suites, shops, a few restaurants and a swimming pool with a bar.[3] A second, taller tower was added to the hotel in the mid-1970s.
The hotel became a battlefield in the Lebanese Civil War in 1975-6 and was left a burnt-out ruin. It was abandoned for nearly twenty-five years until the late 1990s, when Mazen and Marwan Salha, members of the board of directors of La Société des Grands Hotels du Liban, decided to restore the hotel. At this point, a third tower was added as well.
It reopened in March, 2000, following a huge restoration project. It was again damaged in the 2005 bombing assassination of Rafik Hariri in the street out front and closed for three months for repairs. In 2011, it underwent a US $50 million revamp that coincided with its 50-year anniversary[4].