Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort Beirut

The ambiance and the grounds were beautiful. However, all that glitters is not gold.

While the property is beautiful, the staff is unprofessional, unfriendly and unhelpful. From the moment we walked in through the front doors, we had one bad experience after another. The security check lady at the front got annoyed because we didn’t understand Arabic. Next the front desk staff was not bothered to welcome us or offer a smile or a kind word. However the icing on the cake was when after waiting for hours, we went to use the pool and were very rudely informed by their staff infront of other guests that because I was wearing a burkhini, I was not allowed to swim in that pool. Being from Canada, I have never heard anything more bizarre or any less discriminatory. When asked the reason, I was told they have their reasons. I was humiliated and insulted infront of other hotel guests though I had paid full price for our one night stay at the resort. When I spoke to the Manager, all he did was apologize and offer us a free breakfast although he did accept what had happened was unacceptable and he had filed 4 other similar complaints but no one in Management had bothered to do something about it. The resort website did not show any restrictions on using the pool nor had any rules indicated. As well, these rules were no where to be found near the pool or in the resort and also the hotel staff never informed us. I was told someone from Management would reach out to me but no one has and its been two days already. Before checking out, a Food and Beverage Manager came by and said sorry though he too agreed that what had happened, should not have happened. My hijab is my pride and my dignity. I did not appreciate the open discrimination. I want to bring this to everyone’s attention so others are not humiliated like I was. I want to ask for a full refund or compensation. This was a disgusting way to treat a guest especially in the hospitality business.