"One of Beirut’s most exciting new hotels is a tapestry of Lebanon’s past, present, and future. Zoe and Nabil Debs, a British Lebanese couple, reimagined four Ottoman-era buildings in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood, creating 23 rooms and suites with stone walls and high ceilings that invite in natural light. The buildings, which are part of Nabil’s family estate, provide the backdrop for their art collection, which features Byzantine-era works and other archaeologically significant pieces. In the wake of last year’s deadly Beirut explosion, which damaged the hotel on the day it was set to open, the Debses organized an exhibit to raise funds for Red Cross Lebanon—and opened the hotel a month later." - Jennifer Flowers
