Luxury resort opens in Gaza
Luxury resort opens in Gaza
SEPTEMBER 4, 201510:54AM
The Blue Beach Resort Hotel in Gaza. Picture: Blue Beach Resort
THE manicured lawns, sparkling pools and luxury suites are a striking contrast to its war-ravaged surroundings.
The picture-perfect Blue Beach Resort is now open for business in Gaza — a distraught region so struggling to recover from recent conflicts the United Nations this week warned it would become “uninhabitable” in just five years.
But this Gaza City resort has been barely affected by ongoing tensions between Palestine and Israel.
Built by the Palestine Real Estate Investment Company, it is “specifically designed to be the ideal escape for family vacations and for recreational and relaxation purposes, away from the daily life hustle and bustle”, according to the website.
It boasts 152 chalets overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, 600 sq meters of lush green areas, two swimming pools, a jacuzzi, top-class restaurants, a video and games room and access to a 750-metre private beach.
The luxurious Blue Beach Resort Hotel in Gaza. Picture: Blue Beach ResortSource:Facebook
Inside a chalet at the Blue Beach Resort in Gaza. Picture: Blue Beach ResortSource:Facebook
And it seems to be proving popular. Guests who fork out $AU141 to $AU226 a night to stay in one of its luxurious rooms are leaving mostly positive reviews about their experience on Trip Advisor, praising the resort’s “outstanding” service, cleanliness, seaside views and the high quality of its restaurants.
The resort was originally due to be completed last year but plans stalled with the outbreak of the 50-day war between Palestine and Israel, Reuters reported.
And it is among a few luxuries still heartily enjoyed by Gaza’s small but resilient middle class, along with exclusive gyms, expensive cars and fine dining establishments, a report last month by the Washington Post revealed.
A Palestinian man with his daughter at Blue Beach Resort. Picture: Mohammed Salem / ReutersSource:Picture Media
While Blue Beach Resort’s seaside paradise is thriving,
Blue Beach Resort overlooks the Mediterranean Sea from the west and Al-Rasheed Street from the east, located on the other side of Al-Mashtal Hotel.
Blue Beach Resort is one of PRICO’s (Palestine Real Estate Investment Company) investments, which has been established in 1994 as a public limited shareholding company. Blue Beach is a luxurious resort and one of the finest of its kind in Palestine. The resort has been specifically designed to be the ideal escape for family vacations and for recreational and relaxation purposes, away from the daily life hustle and bustle.
The total area of the resort is 21,000 square meters, within which 15,000 square meters are built areas consisting of four buildings for chalets and one for leisure services and facilities, whereas the remaining 6,000 square meters are green areas, consisting of two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi and family sitting areas. The entrance has been designed to be accessed from the fifth floor, as the land -where the Resort are built- are higher from the sea level.
The Chalets are designed in a unique and elegant manner, featuring a distinctive architectural form and luxurious interior spaces, available in various areas; as it consists of 52 single chalets and 80 double chalets.
The first two buildings consist of four floors and a ground floor, whereas the other two consists of three floors and a ground floor. Each provided with seven elevators serving the tenants to facilitate their mobility from one place to another.
The building including the leisure facilities consists of three floors and a ground floor. The ground floor has been designed to accommodate a chain of luxurious restaurants with a total area of 1400 square meter used by all types of clients –tenants or non-tenants-. The first floor has been designed as a computer and video games hall for children and youth with a total area of 1250 square meter, whereas the first floor has been dedicated for bowling purposes with a total area of 1250 square meter. The last two floors has been intended for terraced coffee shops with a total area of 1250 square meter, in addition to providing a car park for resort visitors and tenants accommodating 150 cars.
Blue Beach Resort is managed by a well experienced staff working within an integrated system. It is composed of hospitality and entertainment facilities and services which have been designed based on the most up to date global systems and in accordance with local customs and traditions
Our Values
- Leisure Definers
- Hospitality leaders
- Got something for everyone.
- Always doing the right thing
- Unique Experience Providers
- Respect Everyone
- We are on the offense always
- The consumer decides
- Master the Fundamentals
Blue Beach Resort is one of PRICO’s (Palestine Real Estate Investment Company) investments, which has been established in 1994 as a public limited shareholding company. Blue Beach is a luxurious resort and one of the finest of its kind in Palestine. The resort has been specifically designed to be the ideal escape for family vacations and for recreational and relaxation purposes, away from the daily life hustle and bustle.
The total area of the resort is 21,000 square meters, within which 15,000 square meters are built areas consisting of four buildings for chalets and one for leisure services and facilities, whereas the remaining 6,000 square meters are green areas, consisting of two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi and family sitting areas. The entrance has been designed to be accessed from the fifth floor, as the land -where the Resort are built- are higher from the sea level.
The Chalets are designed in a unique and elegant manner, featuring a distinctive architectural form and luxurious interior spaces, available in various areas; as it consists of 52 single chalets and 80 double chalets.
The first two buildings consist of four floors and a ground floor, whereas the other two consists of three floors and a ground floor. Each provided with seven elevators serving the tenants to facilitate their mobility from one place to another.
The building including the leisure facilities consists of three floors and a ground floor. The ground floor has been designed to accommodate a chain of luxurious restaurants with a total area of 1400 square meter used by all types of clients –tenants or non-tenants-. The first floor has been designed as a computer and video games hall for children and youth with a total area of 1250 square meter, whereas the first floor has been dedicated for bowling purposes with a total area of 1250 square meter. The last two floors has been intended for terraced coffee shops with a total area of 1250 square meter, in addition to providing a car park for resort visitors and tenants accommodating 150 cars.
Blue Beach Resort is managed by a well experienced staff working within an integrated system. It is composed of hospitality and entertainment facilities and services which have been designed based on the most up to date global systems and in accordance with local customs and traditions
Our Values
- Leisure Definers
- Hospitality leaders
- Got something for everyone.
- Always doing the right thing
- Unique Experience Providers
- Respect Everyone
- We are on the offense always
- The consumer decides
- Master the Fundamentals
GAZA (Reuters) - A luxurious new tourist resort has opened in the Gaza Strip, its manicured lawns, sparkling pool and private beach in stark contrast to the impoverished territory still struggling to recover from last year's war.
The Blue Beach Resort, made up of 162 chalet-style rooms set among palm trees and overlooking the Mediterranean, hopes to become the "most significant tourist attraction and entertainment venue in Gaza", according to its website.
Built by the Palestine Real Estate Investment Company, the hotel was set for completion last summer, just before the outbreak of a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that has controlled the territory since 2007.
A year on, the resort is finally opening for business, although only 76 of the rooms are available. Already demand is high, with eager weekenders prepared to pay between $100 and $160 a night to escape Gaza's privations.
At night, in contrast to the power cuts that afflict much of the enclave, the resort's lights can be seen glittering around the swimming pool, the terrace and down to the 750-metre private beach, where the surf rolls in gently.
The hotel's Facebook page has already received 19,000 'Likes' and secured 4.7 out of 5 stars from 230 reviewers.
The Trip Advisor website is slightly less upbeat, however, featuring a red banner above a picture of the swimming pool reading "TRAVEL ALERT: SAFETY AND SECURITY CONCERNS".
OASIS AMID HARDSHIP
While Gaza is one of the world's most economically distraught places, with unemployment at 45 percent and output contracting 15 percent last year, there remain pockets of wealth among the 1.8 million population.
The war, the third conflict in the territory since 2008, destroyed more than 12,000 homes and left tens of thousands of people homeless. But amid the destruction, and the death of more than 2,000 people, there is a desire among those who can afford it to experience everyday pleasures if possible.
There are a number of smart restaurants and hotels on the beachfront in the northern part of Gaza City, sitting almost alongside a refugee camp and not far from neighborhoods that were heavily bombarded during the war.
To the frustration of Gazans, post-war reconstruction has only just begun - the first of the destroyed homes were only rebuilt this month. Housing minister Mufeed Al-Hassayna has promised that the pace will now accelerate.
Qatar, a major financial supporter of the Palestinians, has promised $1 billion in aid, including the rebuilding of 1,000 homes. It has also just completed a new beachfront road.
Guests at the Blue Beach Resort were full of admiration for the development, even if they were well aware that it is an isolated jewel that many cannot afford.
"Since we can't take our families to resorts outside Gaza, we bring them here," said Ahmed Khaled, 45, a father of five. "It's a place where you see only beauty, you can enjoy a drink or lunch by the sea," he said.
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