LE BRISTOL HOTEL, BEIRUT

  • 27 Jul - 02 Aug, 2019
  • Mag The Weekly
  • High Life
LE BRISTOL HOTEL, BEIRUT

This hotel has a history – politicians have gathered here for crisis talks and it became a hub during the Lebanese Civil War – and a renovation has now made it more glamorous. Expect to find academics debating over coffee in the hotel’s bistro and patisserie, Les Gourmandises.

Beirut is divided into dozens of tiny districts and Le Bristol sits in chichi, nouveau-riche Verdun. However, it is also just two minutes from lively, soulful (and noisy) Hamra, with shops and downmarket. Like most places in the city, it's just a 20 minute drive from the airport.

LE BRISTOL HOTEL, BEIRUT

Le Bristol has been independently owned since it opened in 1951 and there is a pleasing lack of branded flags or loyalty schemes. It has fine features, including a black and white draughtsboard motif marble floor in the entrance lobby, set against petrol blue and burgundy soft furnishings.

The Oriental Salon, complete with exquisite 19th-century woodwork from Damascus, was left as the hotel’s original designer, Emile Tarazi, imagined it in the mid-20th century.

LE BRISTOL HOTEL, BEIRUT

Les Gourmandises serves à la carte dishes with French influences, such as mushroom fricassée, beef entrecote and croque-monsieur: for those who have come to the Middle East’s great foodie destination, there are disappointingly few Lebanese options on the main menu. Quality is extremely high, however.

Breakfast ranges from exquisite French tarts and patisserie to Lebanese "hawader" – thick strained yogurt, olives, ground thyme ("za'atar") and crudites.

RELATED POST

COMMENTS