Qatari investors acquire Hotel Tanios in Aley

Cost of land in excess of $12 million

Hotel Tanios, a landmark in Aley from the late 1950s, will be revived after decades of abandonment. The hotel is now owned by Al Rayyan for Project Development, a Qatari-Lebanese real estate venture. The hotel will be reconstructed as a five-star hotel.

The hotel was pulled down in 2008 after being bought by a Saudi investor for around $6 million.

With the new development, Hotel Tanios will keep its name, which will be paired with that of a global hotel management chain. “The name of the management firm will be revealed at a later stage,” said Wissam Danaf, director of the office of Aley’s mayor.

“The project’s licensing fees (paid to the municipality) reached up to $747,000, a high fee for a project in the area,” according to Danaf. He said the hotel’s location is listed among the most expensive zones in the area, with prices reaching up to $3,000 per square meter.

The hotel will be constructed on a surface area of at least 4,000 square meters, with a 90-meter long façade overlooking Aley’s souk. The cost of the land alone is estimated at around $12 million.

The planned hotel will have around 70 rooms. It will have four underground floors dedicated to parking lots, pools, gymnasiums, and other recreational facilities. The development will also host a cinema theater, ballrooms, and a luxury suite.

“Investments in the tourism sector are always motivational and will revive the area,” said Nada Sardouk, director general of the Ministry of Tourism (MoT). The new construction will preserve the hotel’s heritage and will add modern designs and architecture. “Preserving the hotel’s architecture is a way of paying tribute to its legacy; this is highly advised while renewing monuments with history,” said Sardouk. The project developers have acquired the approval of the MoT.