Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel

Phoenicia Beirut

Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel. Original 1961 tower on left, 1970s tower in middle, 2000 tower adjacent on right.
General information
Location Beirut, Lebanon
Coordinates 33°54′2″N 35°29′40″E / 33.90056°N 35.49444°E
Opening 1961
Design and construction
Architect Edward Durell Stone
Other information
Number of rooms 418
Number of suites 44
Number of restaurants 7
Parking yes
Website
www.phoeniciabeirut.com

The Phoenicia InterContinental Hotel 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]

History

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 Ferdinand Dagher and Rodolphe Elias, bearing 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, 22 floor tower designed by Joseph Philippe Karam was added to the hotel in the mid-1970s.[4]

The hotel became a battlefield in the Lebanese Civil War in 1975-6, during fighting known as the Battle of the Hotels, 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.

It reopened in March, 2000, following a huge restoration project that added a third tower. 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.[5]

Art Collection

When the Phoenicia celebrated its 50th anniversary, it revealed a collection of contemporary art, featuring works of Howard Hodgkin, Sam Francis, Jan Dibbets, Andy Goldsworthy, Paul Morrison and a Mud Circle by Richard Long.[6]

In film

As a Beirut landmark, the Phoenicia has appeared in numerous feature movies across its history.

It is featured in the 1965 Mickey Rooney film Twenty-Four Hours to Kill

In Agent 505 - Todesfalle Beirut (1966),[7] the hero stays in the city’s glamorous palace.

In Die Fälschung (1981) (English title: Circle of Deceit), Volker Schlöndorff makes an ambiguous use of the Phoenicia. Characters seem to be lodging in the hotel while it has already been damaged by the war. In fact, the outside scenes were shot on location, while the interior scenes were done at Casino du Liban.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s Je veux voir[8] (English title: I want to see)(2008), starts on the last floor of the Phoenicia: Catherine Deneuve says she wants to see the destruction of the 2006 Lebanon War.

Book about it

References

  1. ↑ "Phoenicia Beirut". Lebanon-Hotels.com. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  2. ↑ "PHOENICIA INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL". beirut-hotel. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  3. ↑ www.phoenicia-ic.com, InterContinental Phoenicia Website. URL accessed on June 8, 2008.
  4. ↑ "KARAM Joseph Philippe". Architecture au Liban. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  5. ↑ http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/travel/inherent-glamour-and-classic-style-at-beiruts-phoenicia-hotel
  6. ↑ Lucinda Bredin (2011). "Summer 2011: Among the ruins". Bonhams Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Agent 505 - Todesfalle Beirut". IMDb. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  8. ↑ IMDb. "I want to see". Retrieved 23 January 2012.

External links