“Excellent hotel at great price”
I am not sure where any remotely negative reviews of the Bristol have come from. It was one of the cheapest hotels that came up in my search on Expedia, and I had read some comments that rooms were not in great condition and beds were old and broken. I chose it partly because of the price and partly because it didn't look too far from the sea front and was not expecting too much in the way of comfort in the room.
What I found was a room something akin to Hiltons I have seen in London, with no luxuries in particular but large, clean and comfortable rooms.
The location was ideal for me, around a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Corniche, 2 or 3 minutes from the shops and bars in and around Hamra. The nightlife of Gemmayze and Achrafieh is a short taxi ride or 30 minute walk away also.
If you want a luxury hotel in Beirut with its own beach club then you will have to pay a good deal more and maybe the Bristol is not for you but if you want somewhere well located, clean and comfortable, it is ideal.
I had read some comments about noise, yet I heard nothing bar the call to prayer. Most interesting feature is the toilet with jet of water, dryer and heated seat!
Staff are incredibly helpful and will arrange trips and give any advice on most things you would need to know.
Area recommendations
In and around Hamra (rues Hamra, Bliss, Makdissi, Makhoul) are good for lively but relaxed coffee shops and bars, as well as cheap eats. Gemmayze and Achrafieh are 5 or 10 minutes away by taxi, but I could walk in half an hour or so. They have more lively, 'dressy' bars and restaurants.
When to go
I would like to go at the height of summer, when things would be a bit more lively. I was there end of October/beginning of November, when it was still warm (24-26C) but we had a couple of days' rain.
Must see
I wanted to get to Qadisha Valley, which always comes highly recommended but the weather was too unpredictable there early November. I would recommend a visit to the Bekaa Valley and see the Roman remains at Baalbek.
