Gems Hotel

The location was good, allowing us to walk to Raouche, the Corniche and downtown. The neighborhood (Hamra) is lively, with many options of bars and restaurants. Breakfast was also good, with many lebanese cuisine items, including sweets. We appreciated that they gave us a room upgrade to a spacious suite, with comfortable beds.

Staff was not friendly. Some facilities in the suite didn't work properly, like the safebox and the air con (we had to choose: either off or too cold). The bathroom and the shower doors didn't close fully, but this was a minor problem. At breakfast, coffee machine was frequently broken. Coffee was not good.

The location was very convenient, close to lots of shops and restaurants. The room was a decent size, the bed was large and had a great mattress, and the shower was large and very good. In addition, a bottle of water was provided every day which was a nice touch, and the provision of a little kitchenette was handy although I mostly just used the kettle and fridge. The air conditioning worked perfectly and helped drown out some of the noise from the bars across the street. There were plenty of plugs to charge devices and lots of storage in wardrobes and drawers. There was also a safe. A comfortable room overall.

Housekeeping was rather haphazard; sometimes I would get a hand towel but not a bath mat and other days I would get the reverse. Sometimes I had one bath towel and sometimes two. The floors could have been cleaner. Reception staff openly mocked me when I asked about local hotels with swimming pools which I found unnecessary and frankly rather rude. I was also over charged and had to send a series of messages to get this rectified-it's always worth checking what you've been charged for!