| Al Deira Hotel | |
|---|---|
 Sea-view from the Al Deira hotel on the Gaza coast | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Location | Gaza, Palestine |
| Coordinates | 31°31′55″N 34°26′28″E / 31.53194°N 34.44111°E |
| Opening | 2000 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Rashid Abdel Hamid |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 22 |
The Al Deira Hotel (Arabic: فندق الديرة غزة فلسطين) is a beach hotel located in Gaza, Palestine.[1] It was built in 2000 and has 22 rooms which feature high, domed ceilings and views of the Mediterranean.[1] The hotel is regularly used by foreign journalists covering Gaza.[2]
The architecture of this boutique hotel, built around an inner courtyard, has an "Ottoman elegance".[1] The style blends traditional Moroccan and Arab architecture with modern design influences. It is built with dark brown sun dried mud bricks, with white arches, vaulted and domed ceilings, and handmade furniture. The architect was Rashid Abdel Hamid. It was previously owned by UNDP employee Khaled Abdel Shafi and architect Rashid Abdel Hamid. In 2015, new management took over. [3]
The hotel has received a number of very positive reviews in Time magazine,[1] by British journalist Alan Johnston[4] and by Lonely Planet which describes the Al Deira as "swish, stylish and tightly run," and "without question the best hotel in town."[3]
In 2010, UN Goodwill Ambassadors Mia Farrow and Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil visited the hotel.[5]
On July 16, 2014 four children were killed by Israeli rockets whilst playing football on the beach just outside Al Deira Hotel. [6] Staff from the hotel brought wounded to the restaurant. Several foreign journalists were staying at the hotel and witnessed the killings.[7][8][9][10]
During the Israel-Hamas conflict in 2023-24, the Al Deira Hotel was bombed and destroyed by Israeli forces.[11]
- ^ a b c d McGirk, Tim (1 July 2009). "The Gaza Strip's Diamond in the Rough". Time. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- ^ "Foreigners kidnapped in Gaza, West Bank,"[dead link] 14 March 2006, Forbes.
- ^ a b Lonely Planet Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Michael Kohn, Lonely Planet, 2007, p. 362.
- ^ "Given time, I may feel stronger for what I went through," Alan Johnston, 17 November 2007, The Guardian. Archived 30 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "UN Goodwill Ambassadors at Al Deira Hotel". Aldeira. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013.
- ^ Washington Post,[1] Israeli strike kills four children on a Gaza beach
- ^ New York Times. Boys Drawn to Gaza Beach, and Into Center of Mideast Strife
- ^ NBC News. Palestinians Mourn Four Children Killed on Gaza Beach
- ^ Washington Post. What happened when Palestinian children were killed in front of a hotel full of journalists
- ^ The Guardian. Witness to a shelling: first-hand account of deadly strike on Gaza port
- ^ "Destruction of the Palestinian cultural heritage of Gaza – in pictures". the Guardian. 11 January 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2024.