First Time in Beirut
Get the most out of your visit with our guide to the city’s hotspots
WORDS | ALEX RAYNER
Four Corners
POPULATION: 1.8 million
VISITORS PER YEAR: 1,851,081 (visitors to Lebanon, 2009)
LANGUAGE: Arabic
CURRENCY: Lebanese pounds (LBP). US dollars also widely accepted
LOCAL BEER: £1.30
ONE-BED APARTMENT: Around £93,000
ONE NIGHT IN A FIVE-STAR HOTEL: From £94
FOR VISITORS UNDER THE AGE OF 25, Beirut must appear as its citizens wish it to be perceived: a vibrant polyglot of a city, a seaside Latin Quarter in the Levant. But for anyone over a quarter-century old, it’s hard to disassociate the Lebanese capital from its current affairs profile as a conflict-torn place, racked by civil war (1975-1990), as well as more recent events, such as the assassination of Lebanese president Rafik Hariri in 2005 and the Israeli army’s bombing of the city in the summer of 2006.
Battle scars are apparent in some places and curiously absent elsewhere. Walk the length of the palm-lined corniche and you’ll pass a machine gun nest or two. If you glance up at the fine art deco buildings from the era of the French Mandate, you might see a swallow nesting in a bullet hole. Approach the Martyrs’ Statue, standing on a plinth in the otherwise pristine Martyrs’ Square, and you can stick your fingers inside a peppering of bullet holes.
Yet the city’s downtown district is remarkably free from wreckage, partly thanks to a comprehensive rebuilding programme. The people are just as finely presented and resilient, with a showy dress sense to rival the Italians, an appetite for nightlife on par with the Brits, and a distinctly Arabian sense of hospitality, coupled with a cheery tolerance all of their own.
East of the downtown area lies Gemmayze, a dressed-down neighbourhood with a strip of cool bars lining along its main drag, Gouraud Street. To the west is Ras Beirut, the breezy, laid-back university district. Head south and you hit Verdun, a fashionable shopping area. Across the city, you’ll come across wide disparities of wealth, yet little discord. This is a welcoming city, ready to reclaim its position as the most glamorous Levantine hub.
HOTELS
POINTS BY SHERATON LE VERDUN
A five-star over-shadowed by more recent openings, offering a reliable, courteous service. Rooftop pool and bar. From $143. Boulevard Saeb Salam, +961 1 803 804, www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints
LE GRAY
Luxurious event hotel. Wonderful interior design and good art collection. From $395. Martyrs’ Square, + 961 1 971 111, www.legray.com
THE FOUR SEASONS
The Beiruti outpost of this international luxury brand was opened earlier this year. From $350. Professor Wafic Sinno Avenue, +961 1 761 000, www.fourseasons.com/beirut
EATING & DRINKING
ALBERGO ROOFTOP
Incredible views are a given, as this place sits on top of one of the city’s best hotels. The treat here is caviar straight from the Caspian sea. 137 Abdel Wahab El Inglizi +961 1 339 797, www.albergobeirut.com
AL RAWDA
Come to this lively, open-air beachfront café for a brief Coke or a drawn-out mezze session. Al Rawda is patronised by poets and families alike. Corniche, +961 1 743 348
OLIO
A great place to refuel before or after a night out in Gemmayze. They also reckon the pizza was a Middle Eastern invention. Gouraud Street, +961 1 563 939, www.lotus-group.net/olio
TAXI TIP
Agree on a fare before you get into the cab, and make sure the driver knows where you want to go. They may accept a fare without being fully aware of how to get to their final destination.
If you feel more comfortable, bargain in dollars, but be prepared to accept change in Lebanese pounds. A trip from the airport to the city should cost around $20.
DAY TRIP
While Beirut is thick with recent history, its older relics aren’t quite so impressive. For more ancient sites, visit Byblos, a seaside hamlet just under 40km north of Beirut. The little fishing port also known as Jbeil is, according to locals, the longest continuously inhabited human settlement in the world, and it has the ruins to back up its claims.
NIGHTLIFE
For an informal drink go to Gouraud Street in Gemmayze, which is commonly compared with London’s Shoreditch or New York’s Lower East Side. For high heels and sequins, opt for Rue Monot. If you prefer a more sophisticated evening, have your concierge book a table at the best local cabaret, Beirut’s Music Hall [Starco Center, Omar Daouk Street + 961 3 807 555].
RECENT HISTORY
1923: With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Lebanon falls under a formal French mandate
1948: Lebanon achieves independence and Beirut becomes the capital
1975: Civil war begins
1982: Israeli army invades
1990: Civil war ends
2005: Rafik Hariri assassinated
2006: Israel bombs Beirut
2009: The New York Times places Beirut at the top of its list of ‘44 Places to Go in 2009’
BUSINESS TIPS FOR BEIRUT
Graham Ball, the chairman of the British Lebanese Business Group, offers some advice
Never underestimate the importance of personal relationships. If you see two Lebanese meet for the first time you’ll witness an interesting social exchange. “Was I at your second cousin’s wedding six years ago?”, “Ah, what’s your surname? I think I knew your father,” that sort of thing. It really is important.
Local partnerships are also key. The container port in Beirut is an alliance between the UK’s Mersey Docks, a Beirut-based company and an American company. These sorts of partnerships work well and there are many people over here on the look out for an opportunity to represent British businesses. It helps in every respect, from company accounts, which need to be filed annually in Arabic, through to the raising of venture capital.
A note on language: you can get by with just English, though it’s the third most-widely spoken language. A phenomenal number of Lebanese are fully fluent in French, English and Arabic.
Expect multitasking. The Lebanese are incredibly good at this. From CEOs down, don’t expect the kind of focus that you’d get in a British meeting.
A chauffeur might come in with a package, the mobile will go off, somebody will open the door and wander in if they’ve something important to say. It’s the way things work over here and it’s a good skill to acquire. www.blbg.org
