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Beirut ranks 24th most expensive for office space

By on February 26, 2014 in Lebanon

Beirut

According to a report by Cushman and Wakefield, office spaces in Beirut are the 24th most expensive in the world, and the third most expensive in the region behind Dubai and Doha, with the cost of 1 square meter being $694 per year.

London was ranked the most expensive office space in the world at $2,915 per square meter, followed by Hong Kong and Moscow. On the other hand, our neighbors Limassol and Amman were among the least expensive cities at $246 per square meter.

For the full ranking you can download the complete report here.

via The Daily Star

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PureGray at Le Gray Beirut among the top 10 spas in the middle east

By on October 24, 2013 in Lebanon

gal.pure.gray.jpg_-1_-1

According to this article in CNN Arabic today, PureGray Health Club at Le Gray Beirut is among the top 10 spas in the middle east along with the following places:

  1. Six Senses at Missoni Hotel in Kuwait
  2. Hello Kitty in Dubai
  3. Eternal Med Spa in Dubai
  4. Six Senses in Oman
  5. Biolite in Dubai
  6. Anantara in Dubai
  7. Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras El Khaimah
  8. Evason Ma’In Hot Springs in Jordan
  9. Asswan Spa at Burj El Arab in Dubai

I’ve never been to PureGray before but have always read positive feedback about it online. On the other hand, I’ve been to one of the Banyan Tree hotels when I was in Thailand back in 2011 and their service is truly impeccable.

Thank to Philippe Abou Zeid for the link

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Krispy Kreme, Costa, TGI Friday’s and Signor Sassi closing down in Lebanon

By on September 13, 2013 in Lebanon

americana group

I was just informed by a good friend at Americana Group in Lebanon that Krispy Kreme, Costa, TGI Friday’s and Signor Sassi are all closing down in Lebanon due to the turbulant time our economy is going through right now. Americana also manages KFC and Hardee’s as well, but these two are staying for now since they’re making profit.

I personally feel neutral about Costa, Friday’s and Signor, but I wish Krispy Kreme stays since I just love their donuts and prefer them over the overrated Dunkin’ Donuts.

It definitely sucks to be in the place of Americana or other big corporations who are all currently in survival mode, since everybody seems to prefer saving money than spending them on restaurants and luxury items. But I feel bad the most about the poeple who work at these places and will now be jobless, and these are mostly university students who work hard to pay their tuition fees.

I hope the warlords ruling this country are happy about the state we’ve come to!

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Instabeat and Wally mentioned on Forbes

By on August 25, 2013 in Lebanon

General Views Of Dubai

Forbes recently posted about 10 Middle Eastern startups that will (hopefully) change lives in the MENA region and the world. Two of these startups are Instabeat, which was founded by Lebanese Hind Hobeika, and Wally, which has two Lebanese members on board of its team, Makram Saleh and Maya Zankoul.

You can check the full list here. If it were up to me, I would have also added eTobb.com.

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Beirut has 36th most expensive retail rent in the world

By on November 21, 2012 in Lebanon

It isn’t surprising anymore to read about Beirut being ranked among the most expensive cities in the world.

The 2012 survey of the world’s most expensive retail rental locations by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield ranked Beirut as the 36th most expensive city among 62 cities worldwide, the second most expensive city among seven cities in the Middle East & Africa region, and the most expensive among five Arab cities. Source

It’s interesting though that the report lists the retail rent per location in Beirut compared to other places in the region.

The ABC Achrafieh ranked as the third most expensive location in the region at $2,000/month, followed by Kaslik Street in 10th place at $1,500/month, Verdun Street in 12th place at $1,400/month, the Beirut Central District in13th place at $1,200/month, and Hamra Street in 19th place at $850/month. (All figures are as at June 2012)

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Beirut ranked last in city competitiveness

By on March 13, 2012 in Lebanon

This is probably going to burst the bubble of so money people who talk big about Lebanon and Beirut being the best places in the world.

In a recent study published yesterday by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Beirut was ranked 117th most competitive global city in the world, barely managing to come ahead of the bottom 3 cities, Dhaka (Bangladesh), Lagos (Nigeria), and Tehran (Iran), taking into consideration 8 key factors that are Economic strength, Physical capital, Financial maturity, Institutional effectiveness, Social and cultural character, Human Capital, Environment and natural hazards, and Global appeal.

New York ranked 1st worldwide followed by London and Singapore, while with regards to the Middle East, Dubai unsurprisingly ranked 1st followed by Abu Dhabi, Doha, Tel Aviv, Kuwait City, Muscat, Riyadh, Beirut and Tehran.

You may read more about the study here, and download the full report here.

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Thousands of old photos of Lebanon and the middle east

By on August 12, 2011 in Lebanon

I just came across a great website called “The Fouad Debbas Collection” featuring thousands of old photos and postcards from Lebanon and the region collected by the late Fouad Debbas, who according to the website used to run the lighting business of Debbas family.

The collection is really amazing and well organized, you can browse it by country, era, period of time, photographer, and even by photo orientation. I’ve seen some old collections before, but this one is unique.

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Green almonds

By on April 4, 2011 in Lebanon

It’s the season for green almonds! Don’t you love Spring for all the fruits it brings?

I find it strange that green almonds are popular in the middle east only (at least that’s what Wikipedia says), the rest of the world seems to be missing a lot.

If you’re a foreigner who happens to be in Lebanon at this time of year, make sure to snack on some of these after adding a little salt. There’s no need to crack the fruit and eat what’s inside, you just eat the whole thing since green almonds are picked when the outside part is still crunchy, and they usually have a tangy flavor.

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