The InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut was IHG's first MENA property. In September the hotel celebrated its 50th birthday with a weekend of food, fun a
Risky business
Armed with comprehensive crisis systems and experience, today, IHG isn’t shy about expanding in countries considered high risk, but it already proved that when it first set foot in the region half a century ago with the opening of Beirut’s InterContinental Phoenicia.
The hotel became a battlefield during the Lebanese Civil war from 1975-6 and was left a burnt-out ruin. It was abandoned for nearly 25 years until the late 1990s when an extensive renovation programme was put in place. The hotel reopened in March 2000, adding a third tower.
Five years later, in 2005, tragedy struck again when the then Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a bomb explosion on the street outside the hotel. The property was closed once again for repairs and reopened three months later.
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Today, the InterContinental Phoenicia stands tall as a proud symbol of InterContinental Hotels Group’s 50 years in the region, and its ability to keep reinventing itself.
For images of the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut from worn torn to standing proud today, click here.
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