Decades ago, the Amriyeh Hotel in Bikfaya, was one of Lebanon’s most prestigious hotels and attractions. Sitting on top of a hill with a view of Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, it is no surprise that the hotel was a popular spot.
It was built and owned by Kayssar Amer who was a renowned fireworks merchant and dates back to the 1960s.
Based on this Al-Modon article, “The hotel consists of four buildings, two designated for guest rooms, an administration building, and a fourth building which is a theater and cinema.”
The hotel had its own outdoor theater, indoor cinema, and resort, but was abandoned during the Lebanese Civil War.
It is believed that a number of artists, including Oum Kolthum and even the Lebanese comedian and actor Chouchou (Hassan Alaa Eddin), once performed a show there.
Local legend says that during the Lebanese war, many people died in the hotel. Bodies of the dead were removed, but a man, his wife, and their two sons decided to stay.
Soon after that, a body was found hanging from the ceiling on the top floor, where it is believed a man hung his wife and killed himself. Two small children’s corpses were also found. But the question is, is anyone still there?
According to a website called Ghouls of Lebanon, Kayssar’s son, Amer Amer, “was rumored to have been a part of a secret international organization and to have been the leader of its Lebanese branch.”
Additionally, despite owning a family cemetery, Kayssar wanted to be buried near the church that he built facing the hotel, says the website. “This is very strange and makes the rumors about the hotel being haunted that much creepier.”
Commonly, people tend to develop tales from incomprehensible events or incidents surrounded by mystery, even more so when their sites have been long abandoned and left to decay.
This hotel is one of them.
CardCuriosity and thrill bring many to visit it and try to explore its secrets or meet some ghosts; some truly believing in the existence of ghosts roaming around and in the underground tunnels, some truly wanting to prove the tales wrong, and some to add to them with scary graffitis on the walls.
That has made the hotel in its present eerie-creepy status a destination to many, which has been adding to its lingering energy and keeping it ‘alive’ in the minds of people.