Sport On The Far Shores Of Eden

STAYING THERE: The hotel that made Americans aware of Beirut when it opened with great fanfare in 1962 is the Phoenicia, managed by Intercontinental, the hotel division of Pan American Airways. It is entirely air-conditioned and built almost completely of marble, with a balcony leading from virtually every room to overlook St. George's Bay. The rates are indicative of the travel bargain that is Beirut—$10 to $15 for a single, $13 to $19 for a double. The Phoenicia's swimming pool terrace is one of the favorite girl-watching spots in town. Its downstairs nightclub and rooftop restaurant are the town's most elegant. The Saint-Georges Hotel is the old-line center of things social and sportive. It, too, has a balcony for each bedroom, plus the added advantage of a seafront site where two beach clubs, the Yacht Motor Club and the Saint-Georges Elite Club, extend their jetties from its base (there is very little sandy beach on the bay, only on the open sea). This is where the action is—the water skiing, the boat chartering, the sunning, swimming, kayaking, tennis, outdoor lunching.

These are the places that most of the estimated 80,000 Americans who will visit Beirut this year will know about in advance and will book. But there are many other good hotels. Newest is the Coral Beach, a luxury hotel in the rapidly developing area on the open ocean. Also in this area is the Carlton, as modern as Brasilia. In the other direction, north toward the Casino, is the Tabarja Beach, a self-contained bungalow complex with beach and swimming pool. You need a car for all of these places—the rates of Avis-Mecar and Hertz range upward from $30 per week. In town, the Bristol and the Alcazar (left) would be the top hotels in many another resort.

EATING THERE: The French food in these Beirut hotels is often the equal of that found in France. A particularly notable French restaurant is Lucullus, down the street from the Phoenicia. On the second floor, it has jalousied windows looking out on the tops of palm trees, white napery, a no-nonsense approach to fresh fish, good salads, cheeses, fruits and wines. The Caves du Roy is a handsome nightclub-restaurant with fine beefsteaks. In Beirut one can also eat in any language, but none more interesting than the native. The place to go is Al-Ajami. The maza, or hors d'oeuvre course, a meal in itself, gives you an idea of the array: as many as 55 dishes, including hummus (mashed chickpeas mixed with sesame oil and garlic); tomatoes and grape or cabbage leaves stuffed with various ground meats, pine nuts and rice; marinated eggplant, peppers and tomatoes; cubes of lamb grilled on a spit; shrimp; olives; cucumber; snails; oysters; brains. The flat bread, rather like tortillas, serves as napkin and plate as well as food. The classic accompaniment is arak, Lebanon's equivalent of the Greeks' ouzo and the Pernod of France. The local fruits, displayed at colorful stands all over the country, are shipped around the world.

PLAYING THERE: In addition to the various sporting activities mentioned above, American visitors can play tennis at nine different tennis clubs. An Arabian saddle horse costs $1 per hour; a day at a beach club about $1; an Arab felucca $20 for a day's sailing; and water skiing, the most popular water sport, $4 for half an hour. Snorkeling is good everywhere—at Tyre you can explore the city Alexander pushed into the sea.