The Four Seasons Hotel Damascus for business and pleasure
Posted on 24 November 2010 with no comments from readers
For the business traveler the only true five-star deluxe hotel in Damascus is the Four Seasons. Open for just five years the property is built in the New York tower style, and service levels are comparable.
There are 231 rooms and 66 suites on the 18 floors, topped by a magnificent Presidential Suite across the whole of the top floor. Decor and marble bathrooms are to the highest standards with the addition of locally crafted Syrian furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and Ottoman artworks.
Modern Syria
For long-term guests there are 12 serviced apartments, another first for Syria as are the female concierges. The ground floor has three restaurants: an all-day international buffet, Italian fine dining and arguably the best restaurant in the Middle East, Al-Halabi (see this review).
Other facilities include the city’s first full service Spa and the largest ballroom in Damascus at 1,000 square metres and many business meeting rooms. The high speed WiFi Internet system is first-class although charged seperately.
Popular with business and diplomats, the Four Seasons is also an excellent base for visiting the Old City which is the oldest continually inhabited urban area in the world (click here), and the main sites of Syria.
Internal travel
The hotel will organize either limousines or taxis for these visits. However, be warned that the distances to the main sites are considerable. Allow two hours to get to the crusader castle, Krak des Chevaliers, for example, or three for the Roman city of Palmyra but both sites are well worth seeing. Local buses and taxis are considerably cheaper though can be far more hassle.
The Four Seasons is owned by the Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed and represented something of a landmark for foreign direct investment a decade ago. It is to be congratulated on achieving service standards that are new to hospitality in Syria and up to the highest global levels.
ArabianMoney also appreciated the interior decoration and location of this hotel which is within easy walking distance of the Old City. But perhaps the reason why this modern hotel works so well is that the Syrian people have always been kind and generous hosts over several millennia and this is just the latest twist in a long tradition.
