The Phoenicia Hotel

I'll be spending most of the week at the Phoenicia Hotel, a beautiful waterfront landmark in Beirut in the area called the Corniche. The hotel is 50 years old, but was completely destroyed during Lebanon's civil war in the mid-1970's, and like most of the buildings in the area, was left as little more than a burned out hull for decades. But the Phoenicia was rebuilt and completely refurbished in the 90's, and today it's a classy 5-star spot, that attracts business travelers and tourists with money to burn.
I arrived at the hotel and threw open my blinds, in the hopes that I might have a beautiful view of the Mediterranean, but unfortunately I found myself situated on the opposite side of the building, with a view inland. In truth, my room looked out over one of the most ugly construction sites I've ever seen, just a raw pile of materials stacked in haphazard piles up a precarious hill. Looming over the site was a huge shell of a building that was equally unattractive, burnt out and with walls riddled with bullet and grenade holes. It turns out this building is Beirut's former Holiday Inn, and it's been left in this sad state for decades. Apparently the fighting during the Lebanese civil war was so intense that fighters were moving room to room, tossing grenades against their enemies entrenched in other parts of the hotel. The buildings ruinous condition is a sad testament to an era of brutal violence, and from the comforts of the Phoenicia, it's a stark reminder that violence is only a few steps away...  To see a more in-depth photo essay by Fergus Cunningham of the remains of the Holiday Inn click here...