LE Royal Hotel Beirut, the only hotel in Beirut belonging to the Leading Hotels of the World, was voted by travel agencies worldwide as ‘Lebanon’s Leading Resort’ during the World Travel Awards (WTA) held in October this year. “Le Royal Hotel Beirut is a destination that offers business people a secure haven for their family, as well as a variety of health and leisure options that are not found in other properties,” said the hotel’s general manager Nather Auchi.
High tech installations across the property (including free internet usage as from January 2009), spaciousness of rooms, ultra-personalised service, and a regular comedy show are among the hotel’s unique selling points.
“Geographically, the hotel is also unique in that major attractions in the country, such as the Jeita grotto, the Faraya ski resort, Notre Dame du Liban, Casino du Liban, Downtown Beirut and the ancient city of Byblos are all between 15 minutes and 45 minutes by car at most.”
“Lebanon is a country that has seen its fair share of challenges, yet our occupancy levels have shown a healthy average rate of 65 per cent in 2008 overall. We’re certainly expecting an increase of at least 10 per cent for 2009, with early bookings even from now,” said Auchi.
He felt that challenges for the hotel were to maintain and exceed the level of service they had achieved, but mostly, the difficulties facing them were external ones, such as a possibly unstable economy due to a worldwide crisis, or the chance of regional political instability.
Competition with the rest of the region was healthy too. “Although Lebanon and Le Royal have certainly carved their place as popular destinations among visitors from the GCC and Levant, we find ourselves having to compete for prices without compromising our quality in any way. Targeting high-end clients is also harder than attracting the mid-market segment,” he said.
“Our ambition will also be supported by our vision, which includes a fascinating project that will extend the facilities and offerings of Le Royal Hotel Beirut in unimaginable ways within the next five years – and which at this point we are not at liberty to disclose.”
