Two years after its closure, life returns to “Venice”, Beirut’s oldest hotel

The InterContinental Phenicia Beirut is famous for its long history and distinguished location, but it formed a curse on the hotel overlooking the Beirut Marina and the Mediterranean Sea. The symbolic hotel, which is known as La Grande Dame or the Great Lady or the Lady of the Palace, has suffered, like every other hotel in Lebanon, from the consequences of wars, attacks and bombings, and has been a witness to all stages of the successive Lebanese crises.