Weekend at Beit Douma
Tags: Adventure, Fun, Traveling, Tourism, Lebanon

“I could live there forever”

When I get asked about my hobby, my answer is: “staying at guesthouses”.

I love it. I really do. A weird hobby, but a real one. (At least for me).

“There is nothing better than home”

You have definitely heard this saying.

It is a nice one, and there’s nothing wrong with it, except that it’s not totally true. There might be another place that feels like Home and this place is Beit Douma.

What is “Beit”?

For those who don’t know, “Beit” means home.

And Douma is a Lebanese village.

Do the math, and what will you get?(Drum rolls)

House of Douma.

(AHA! Genius)

Let’s press the rewind button

Douma is one of my favorite Lebanese villages.

Its beauty lies in its people,authentic feel, beautiful houses with red tiles and its breathtaking nature and colors. So I thought, why not stay there for a couple of days to disconnect from everything going on around us.

That is when I decided to stay at Beit Douma. A beautiful old house that I used to call my “crush” house even before visiting it.

The “Beit”

Beit Douma is an authentic Lebanese house that was built back in the 18th century, and renovated for the purpose of making it a guesthouse.

Take a look at it !

TourWithV at Beit Douma

Once you reach Douma, you will see nothing but houses with red tiles next to each other, but there is ONE house that stands out with its architecture and beautiful exterior: Beit Douma.

The color mix between design and nature make it a live postcard that you can’t get enough of.

The inside of the Beit

Even better than the outside !

Entering a dream. This is what I felt while stepping inside the house.

The colors, the interior and the DETAILS. (It’s all in the details.)

Everything had been thought through (ever tiny little thing) to bring the best experience ever.

The room at entrance of Beit Douma

Then, we took a tour of the kitchen, the most beautiful part of the house.

What a kitchen !

The Beit has also several living rooms . I tried each and every one of them to get the full experience.

Here’s a glimpse of the main one. Look at the beautiful arches!

Meet the Beit family

The Beit staff are like family to each customer. The perfect family!

Sarah the House Manager, who was there to greet us, waiting for us by the door. Then, we met Raefat, the steward, who was there to assist us in everything we needed over two days non-stop.

From the welcoming, to the service and smiles, everything was perfect which made the experience even better.

The Rooms

The rooms are out of this world !

Each room has its own identity and theme, and even bathrooms are beautifully decorated with plants and frames everywhere.

There’s also what we call in Arabic a “comodina”, a type of credenza where complementary cakes and fruits are made available for guests.

(And if they only knew I was the one who ate the whole cake ! No regrets.)

Now they know !

Candlelight dinner

Because why not ?

During the stay at Beit Douma, there was an extra option to book a private dinner which consists of a Lebanese mezze (a selection of small dishes served as appetizers) and main course.

One word to describe the whole experience: PERFECT.

We booked the dinner and went to the lobby at 8 pm to find a candelit table waiting for Anthony & me.

How cute the setup was !

Dinner for two please !

Pictures do not do justice for the food nor the experience but I had to share them.

On the menu there was:

A lentil soup — The BEST

Fattouch

Hommos

Batata Harra

Hindbeh

Makanek

Chicken with vegetables

Everything was so good we cleaned all the plates. Thank you Chef Georges !

& look how happy Anthony was

Meet “Souk”

The best encounter we made during our stay is Beit Douma’s dog called “Souk” after “Souk el Tayeb”.

For those who don’t know, Beit Douma is one of many other Beits spread over Lebanon such as Beit el Amar in Deir el Amar and Beit el Batroun in Batroun. They’re also part of Tawlet & Souk el Tayeb farmers’ market.

Press to read more about them.

The Next Day

Breakfast is served !

And not just any breakfast ! A traditional one !

On the menu:

Foul & Hommos

Labneh

Jebneh (Cheese)

Vegetables

Manakich

Eggs

Butter & Jam

Breakfast is over, we were ready to pack and say goodbye to Beit Douma before hitting the Douma Souks which are a 3-minute walk from the guesthouse.

Such a peaceful stay and village.

Beit Douma, you stole my heart.

Tour-ly yours,

V