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Lebanese Public Slams Eden Bay, Massive Resort Built On Beirut’s Only Public Beach
Last year, we told you about the controversial plans for building a massive five star resort on Beirut’s last and only public beach. News of the construction plans caused controversy in the country – with many claiming that construction of the resort would violate construction laws and zoning regulations. Unfortunately, despite public outrage – the Eden Bay resort project continued – leaving very little to enjoy of Beirut’s only public shore.
Although Lebanon’s coast is supposed to be protected for the public, the majority of its shoreline has been privatized, built over with extravagant resorts and private beaches with outrageously expensive entry fees. Much of Lebanon’s population is deprived of access to its country’s own shore, and the building of Eden Bay has only furthered that deprivation, slowly squeezing out the remnants of Beirut’s beloved Ramlet el Bayda beach, the only public beach in the city.
Yesterday, Eden Bay resort opened for business. The Lebanese public went online to protest the resort in the only effective way they could – by giving it horrible ratings on Google and Facebook, even causing the resort to remove the review section for its Facebook profile after its ratings plummeted.
Since then, the hashtags #boycott_eden_bay and #الشط_لكل_الناس (the shore is for everyone) have gone viral on Lebanese social media platforms, and the public continue to give horrible ratings on Google reviews – with most of the one star reviews stating that the resort has been built illegally on public land.
At one point last night, the reviews were so rampant that the resort’s Google listing had changed to ‘permanently closed’. It has since re-opened on Google, and currently has a 1.2 star review, despite being a 5 star hotel.
Here are some reviews left on the resort’s Google listing:
“This hotel has been built illegally on public space. There was a court order for them to stop but they went ahead and continued anyway. Anyone who supports this hotel will be an accomplice to this crime. STAY AWAY!”
“Hotel built illegally on public land, depriving people from their last free public beach and ignoring court order to stop the construction. Additionally the water is very dirty and has been for years as all sewage goes there. If you don’t wanna catch a deadly disease do not go there”
“This hotel has been illegally built on public space, ignoring a court order to stop construction. This establishment and its corrupt ‘political’ backing have basically deprived the people of their last accessible stretch of what used to be a public beach in Beirut. Shame.”
What do you think about the controversial resort? Let us know in the comments.
Main picture courtesy of The Guardian
Although Lebanon’s coast is supposed to be protected for the public, the majority of its shoreline has been privatized, built over with extravagant resorts and private beaches with outrageously expensive entry fees. Much of Lebanon’s population is deprived of access to its country’s own shore, and the building of Eden Bay has only furthered that deprivation, slowly squeezing out the remnants of Beirut’s beloved Ramlet el Bayda beach, the only public beach in the city.
Yesterday, Eden Bay resort opened for business. The Lebanese public went online to protest the resort in the only effective way they could – by giving it horrible ratings on Google and Facebook, even causing the resort to remove the review section for its Facebook profile after its ratings plummeted.
Since then, the hashtags #boycott_eden_bay and #الشط_لكل_الناس (the shore is for everyone) have gone viral on Lebanese social media platforms, and the public continue to give horrible ratings on Google reviews – with most of the one star reviews stating that the resort has been built illegally on public land.
At one point last night, the reviews were so rampant that the resort’s Google listing had changed to ‘permanently closed’. It has since re-opened on Google, and currently has a 1.2 star review, despite being a 5 star hotel.
Here are some reviews left on the resort’s Google listing:
“This hotel has been built illegally on public space. There was a court order for them to stop but they went ahead and continued anyway. Anyone who supports this hotel will be an accomplice to this crime. STAY AWAY!”
“Hotel built illegally on public land, depriving people from their last free public beach and ignoring court order to stop the construction. Additionally the water is very dirty and has been for years as all sewage goes there. If you don’t wanna catch a deadly disease do not go there”
“This hotel has been illegally built on public space, ignoring a court order to stop construction. This establishment and its corrupt ‘political’ backing have basically deprived the people of their last accessible stretch of what used to be a public beach in Beirut. Shame.”
What do you think about the controversial resort? Let us know in the comments.
Main picture courtesy of The Guardian