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Coordinates: 36°12′18″N 37°9′00″E / 36.20500°N 37.15000°E / 36.20500; 37.15000
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{{Infobox hotel
{{Infobox hotel
|hotel_name = Baron Hotel
|hotel_name = Baron Hotel
|image = File:Baron from the street.jpg
|image = File:Baron_hotel_Alp.jpg
|image_size = 287px
|image_size = 287px
|caption = The hotel's facade
|caption = The hotel's facade
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}}
}}


'''Baron Hotel''' (also '''Baron's Hotel'''; {{lang-fr|Hôtel Baron}} or ''Le Baron''), is the oldest hotel in [[Syria]] and the region. It is located in downtown [[Aleppo]], on Baron street of the Aziziyeh area, next to the [[National Museum of Aleppo]].
'''Baron Hotel''' (also '''Baron's Hotel'''; {{lang-fr|Hôtel Baron}} or ''Le Baron''), is the oldest hotel in [[Syria]] and the region. It is located on Baron street in the down-town [[Aleppo]]'s Aziziyeh district. The Baron is still standing -- but has sustained some [[Syrian Civil War|civil war]] related damage.


⚫
==History==
In November 2014 the hotel was forced to close its doors as the Syrian civil war gripped the city, with the front line separating government and rebel forces just metres away from the building. For over two years there had been almost no paying guests.
⚫
The idea of building a luxury hotel in Aleppo rose at the end of the 19th century. Sometime around 1870, a member of the [[Armenian people|Armenian]] family of Mazloumian (from eastern [[Anatolia]]) was on her way to [[Jerusalem]] for [[pilgrimage]]. While passing through Aleppo which was--even at that time--a cosmopolitan centre of commerce, she noticed how uncomfortable Europeans felt when staying at the traditional [[caravanserai]]s. Eventually, she decided to build something modern in Aleppo and the result was the '''Ararat hotel''', the first hotel in the region, at the end of the 19th century.


⚫
A few years later the Mazloumian Brothers enlarged their business by setting up the new ''Baron's Hotel''. In 1909, amongst the gardens on the outskirts of old Aleppo, they built the first floor of the current building; the second floor followed in 1911, and the third in 1940.
The fate of the historical artefacts inside the building and the giant [[Henry Charles Stephens|Stephens]] thermometer, with French script, affixed to the front wall since 1917, is unknown.


Baron's is one of several notable hotels in the Middle East that seem to tell a story of how a region once viewed by foreigners as a playground has given way to a newer imagery of hard regimes and struggles to get by.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/24/world/aleppo-journal-a-small-hotel-its-memories-fading.html|title=Aleppo Journal; A Small Hotel, Its Memories Fading|last=Times|first=Alan Cowell, Special To The New York|date=1990-02-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
⚫
==History==
⚫
The idea of building a luxury hotel in Aleppo rose at the end of the 19th century. Sometime around 1870, a member of the [[Armenian people|Armenian]] family of Mazloumian (from eastern [[Anatolia]]) was on her way to [[Jerusalem]] for [[pilgrimage]]. While passing through Aleppo which was -even at that time- a cosmopolitan centre of commerce, she noticed how uncomfortable Europeans felt when staying at the traditional [[caravanserai]]s. Eventually, she decided to build something modern in Aleppo and the result was the '''Ararat hotel''', the first hotel in the region, at the end of the 19th century.


==Recent Developments==
⚫
[[File:Baron hotel at night.jpg|thumb|left|267px|The hotel at night]]
In November 2014 the hotel was forced to close its doors as the Syrian civil war gripped the city, with the front line separating government and rebel forces just metres away from the building.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://hetq.am/eng/news/20010/the-forgotten-of-aleppos-hotel-baron.html|title=The Forgotten of Aleppo’s Hotel Baron - Hetq - News, Articles, Investigations|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11239988/War-in-Syria-takes-toll-on-Aleppos-oldest-hotel-in-pictures.html|title=War in Syria takes toll on Aleppo's oldest hotel, in pictures|work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en}}</ref> For over two years there had been almost no paying guests. The fate of the historical artefacts inside the building and the giant [[Henry Charles Stephens|Stephens]] thermometer, with French script, affixed to the front wall since 1917, is unknown.


By March 2016 the hotel has restarted operation despite the gravity of the situation caused by the [[Syrian Civil War|war]].<ref>Italian newspaper [[La Repubblica]] 5th March 2016: {{cite web | title = Silenzio e cecchini nell'Hotel Baron di Aleppo assediata (in Italian)| url = http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2016/03/05/news/silenzio_e_cecchini_nell_hotel_baron_di_aleppo_assediata_noi_non_chiudiamo_qui_e_la_nostra_storia_-134808188| }}</ref> It had reportedly also been kept open to shelter victims of [[Jihadism|jihadi]] terror who had come into the city from the countryside.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/aleppo-notebook-the-citys-terrorist-besiegers-will-now-be-besieged/|title=Aleppo Notebook: the city’s terrorist besiegers will now be besieged {{!}} The Spectator|date=2016-02-13|work=The Spectator|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en-US}}</ref> The Baron is still standing while sustaining some [[Syrian Civil War|war]] related damage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/news/a9006/baron-hotel-aleppo-syria/|title=Searching the Ruins of Aleppo for My Friends at the Baron Hotel|date=2016-12-19|work=Town & Country|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en}}</ref>
⚫
A few years later the Mazloumian Brothers enlarged their business by setting up the new ''Baron's Hotel''. In 1909, amongst the gardens on the outskirts of old Aleppo, they built the first floor of the current building; the second floor followed in 1911, and the third in 1940.

Currently (March 2016) the hotel is still operating despite the gravity of the situation caused by the [[Syrian Civil War|war]].<ref>Italian newspaper [[La Repubblica]] 5th March 2016: {{cite web | title = Silenzio e cecchini nell'Hotel Baron di Aleppo assediata (in Italian)| url = http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2016/03/05/news/silenzio_e_cecchini_nell_hotel_baron_di_aleppo_assediata_noi_non_chiudiamo_qui_e_la_nostra_storia_-134808188| }}</ref>


==Notable guests==
==Notable guests==

Until the [[Second World War]], during the [[French Mandate]] most of the guests were British, French or German. British agents posing as archaeologists spied on German generals, who arranged opulent banquets for their [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] allies while German engineers built the rail line from [[Berlin]] to [[Baghdad]].<ref>Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East (hardcover and paperback), Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87113-457-8 (Published in the United Kingdom by Secker and Warburg, as well as Picador.) There is a section on the hotel as it was in 1987.</ref>
Until the [[Second World War]], during the [[French Mandate]] most of the guests were British, French or German. British agents posing as archaeologists spied on German generals, who arranged opulent banquets for their [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] allies while German engineers built the rail line from [[Berlin]] to [[Baghdad]].<ref>Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East (hardcover and paperback), Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87113-457-8 (Published in the United Kingdom by Secker and Warburg, as well as Picador.) There is a section on the hotel as it was in 1987.</ref>


⚫
The second floor of the hotel has witnessed the presence of political leaders and a lot of figures of culture: [[Lawrence of Arabia]] slept in room 202 (there is a copy of his unpaid bar bill displayed in the hotel); [[Faisal I of Iraq|King Faisal]] declared Syria's independence from the balcony<ref>https://www.rt.com/news/335475-syria-aleppo-iconic-hotel-refugees/</ref> in room 215; [[Agatha Christie]] wrote the first part of ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'' in room 203<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/24/world/aleppo-journal-a-small-hotel-its-memories-fading.html|title=Aleppo Journal; A Small Hotel, Its Memories Fading|last=Times|first=Alan Cowell, Special To The New York|date=1990-02-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by [[Charles de Gaulle]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2841239/Haunting-photos-oldest-hotel-Aleppo-hosted-presidents-glitterati-falling-disrepair-Syrian-line.html|title=Charles de Gaule and Agatha Christie's old haunt closes in Syria|work=Mail Online|access-date=2017-05-20}}</ref> King [[Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden]], Egypt's [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], Syria's former President [[Hafez Al Assad]], Sheikh [[Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan]] (the founder of the [[United Arab Emirates]]), and the American billionaire [[David Rockefeller]]. Other notable guests include Dame [[Freya Stark]], [[Julie Christie]], Mr and Mrs [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Kemal Ataturk]],<ref>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/09/world/rockefellers-memory-endures-aleppo-hotel-fighting-intensifies/</ref> [[Lady Louise Mountbatten]], [[Charles Lindbergh]] and [[Yuri Gagarin]].<ref>{{cite web | title = The Hotel Baron in Aleppo| url = http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-386/i.html | publisher = Qantara: Dialogue with Islamic world | accessdate = 2009-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2017/01/turkey-syria-return-to-aleppo-squandering-legacy.html|title=Return to Aleppo: A squandered legacy|date=2017-01-12|work=Al-Monitor|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en-us}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:Aleppo Hotel Baron.jpg|thumb|267px|The bar]]

⚫
The second floor of the hotel has witnessed the presence of political leaders and a lot of figures of culture: [[Lawrence of Arabia]] slept in room 202 (there is a copy of his unpaid bar bill displayed in the hotel); [[Faisal I of Iraq|King Faisal]] declared Syria's independence from the balcony<ref>https://www.rt.com/news/335475-syria-aleppo-iconic-hotel-refugees/</ref> in room 215; [[Agatha Christie]] wrote the first part of ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'' in room 203{{citation needed|date=March 2016|reason=A source is needed for the fact that Ms Christie should have written a part of her novel in this hotel.}}. The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by [[Charles de Gaulle]], King [[Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden]], Egypt's [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], Syria's former President [[Hafez Al Assad]], Sheikh [[Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan]] (the founder of the [[United Arab Emirates]]), and the American billionaire [[David Rockefeller]]. Other notable guests include Dame [[Freya Stark]], [[Julie Christie]], Mr and Mrs [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Kemal Ataturk]],<ref>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/09/world/rockefellers-memory-endures-aleppo-hotel-fighting-intensifies/</ref> [[Lady Louise Mountbatten]], [[Charles Lindbergh]] and [[Yuri Gagarin]].<ref>{{cite web | title = The Hotel Baron in Aleppo| url = http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-386/i.html | publisher = Qantara: Dialogue with Islamic world | accessdate = 2009-09-05}}</ref>


==Legacy==
==Legacy==
During the French mandate, the street where Le Baron was built, was named after General [[Henri Gouraud (French Army officer)|Henri Gouraud]]. After the independence of Syria in 1946, the government decided to rename the street after "Baron" for the fame and the importance of the hotel.
During the French mandate, the street where Le Baron was built, was named after General [[Henri Gouraud (French Army officer)|Henri Gouraud]]. After the independence of Syria in 1946, the government decided to rename the street after "Baron" for the fame and the importance of the hotel.


==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Baron from the street.jpg|Baron Hotel seen from Baron St
⚫
File:Baron hotel at night.jpg|The Baron Hotel illuminated at night
⚫
File:Aleppo Hotel Baron.jpg||Baron Hotel Bar
File:Baron hotel old Aleppo.jpg|Baron Hotel restaurant (1940)
File:Hotel Baron, Aleppo.jpg|Aleppo's Baron Hotel signage
File:Hotel Baron Aleppo at night.jpg|Baron Hotel at night (2009)
File:Baron Hotel staircase, Aleppo, 2009.jpg|Baron Hotel Staircase
File:Hotel_Baron_thermometer.jpg|Baron Hotel [[Henry Charles Stephens|Stephens]] thermometer (now missing)
</gallery>
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==

⚫
{{commons category|Hotel Baron}}
* [http://hotel-baron.com/ Baron Hotel official website]
* [http://hotel-baron.com/ Baron Hotel official website]
* [http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g295416-d494709-Baron_Hotel-Aleppo.html Photos of Baron Hotel, Aleppo]
* [http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g295416-d494709-Baron_Hotel-Aleppo.html Photos of Baron Hotel, Aleppo]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClMHP_KlR2c Video of the Laurence of Arabia Room at the Baron Room, Aleppo]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04qvrrs The family who ran Aleppo's first grand hotel (BBC World 2017)]
⚫
{{commons category|Hotel Baron}}


{{Aleppo landmarks|state=collapsed}}
{{Aleppo landmarks|state=collapsed}}
Line 62: Line 72:
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1909]]
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1909]]
[[Category:Hotels in Aleppo]]
[[Category:Hotels in Aleppo]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Syria]]

Revision as of 16:51, 20 May 2017

Baron Hotel
The hotel's facade
Baron Hotel is located in Aleppo
Baron Hotel
Location within Aleppo
General information
LocationAleppo, Syria
Coordinates36°12′18″N 37°9′00″E / 36.20500°N 37.15000°E / 36.20500; 37.15000
Opening1909–1911
OwnerMazloumian Brothers
ManagementArmen Mazloumian (director)
Technical details
Floor count3
Other information
Number of rooms17
Number of restaurants1

Baron Hotel (also Baron's Hotel; Template:Lang-fr or Le Baron), is the oldest hotel in Syria and the region. It is located on Baron street in the down-town Aleppo's Aziziyeh district. The Baron is still standing -- but has sustained some civil war related damage.

History

The idea of building a luxury hotel in Aleppo rose at the end of the 19th century. Sometime around 1870, a member of the Armenian family of Mazloumian (from eastern Anatolia) was on her way to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. While passing through Aleppo which was--even at that time--a cosmopolitan centre of commerce, she noticed how uncomfortable Europeans felt when staying at the traditional caravanserais. Eventually, she decided to build something modern in Aleppo and the result was the Ararat hotel, the first hotel in the region, at the end of the 19th century.

A few years later the Mazloumian Brothers enlarged their business by setting up the new Baron's Hotel. In 1909, amongst the gardens on the outskirts of old Aleppo, they built the first floor of the current building; the second floor followed in 1911, and the third in 1940.

Baron's is one of several notable hotels in the Middle East that seem to tell a story of how a region once viewed by foreigners as a playground has given way to a newer imagery of hard regimes and struggles to get by.[1]

Recent Developments

In November 2014 the hotel was forced to close its doors as the Syrian civil war gripped the city, with the front line separating government and rebel forces just metres away from the building.[2][3] For over two years there had been almost no paying guests. The fate of the historical artefacts inside the building and the giant Stephens thermometer, with French script, affixed to the front wall since 1917, is unknown.

By March 2016 the hotel has restarted operation despite the gravity of the situation caused by the war.[4] It had reportedly also been kept open to shelter victims of jihadi terror who had come into the city from the countryside.[5] The Baron is still standing while sustaining some war related damage.[6]

Notable guests

Until the Second World War, during the French Mandate most of the guests were British, French or German. British agents posing as archaeologists spied on German generals, who arranged opulent banquets for their Ottoman allies while German engineers built the rail line from Berlin to Baghdad.[7]

The second floor of the hotel has witnessed the presence of political leaders and a lot of figures of culture: Lawrence of Arabia slept in room 202 (there is a copy of his unpaid bar bill displayed in the hotel); King Faisal declared Syria's independence from the balcony[8] in room 215; Agatha Christie wrote the first part of Murder on the Orient Express in room 203[9] The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by Charles de Gaulle,[10] King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's former President Hafez Al Assad, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (the founder of the United Arab Emirates), and the American billionaire David Rockefeller. Other notable guests include Dame Freya Stark, Julie Christie, Mr and Mrs Theodore Roosevelt, Kemal Ataturk,[11] Lady Louise Mountbatten, Charles Lindbergh and Yuri Gagarin.[12][13]

Legacy

During the French mandate, the street where Le Baron was built, was named after General Henri Gouraud. After the independence of Syria in 1946, the government decided to rename the street after "Baron" for the fame and the importance of the hotel.

  • Baron Hotel seen from Baron St
    Baron Hotel seen from Baron St
  • The Baron Hotel illuminated at night
    The Baron Hotel illuminated at night
  • Baron Hotel Bar
    Baron Hotel Bar
  • Baron Hotel restaurant (1940)
    Baron Hotel restaurant (1940)
  • Aleppo's Baron Hotel signage
    Aleppo's Baron Hotel signage
  • Baron Hotel at night (2009)
    Baron Hotel at night (2009)
  • Baron Hotel Staircase
    Baron Hotel Staircase
  • Baron Hotel Stephens thermometer (now missing)
    Baron Hotel Stephens thermometer (now missing)

References

  1. ^ Times, Alan Cowell, Special To The New York (1990-02-24). "Aleppo Journal; A Small Hotel, Its Memories Fading". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-20.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "The Forgotten of Aleppo's Hotel Baron - Hetq - News, Articles, Investigations". Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  3. ^ "War in Syria takes toll on Aleppo's oldest hotel, in pictures". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  4. ^ Italian newspaper La Repubblica 5th March 2016: "Silenzio e cecchini nell'Hotel Baron di Aleppo assediata (in Italian)". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ "Aleppo Notebook: the city's terrorist besiegers will now be besieged | The Spectator". The Spectator. 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  6. ^ "Searching the Ruins of Aleppo for My Friends at the Baron Hotel". Town & Country. 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  7. ^ Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East (hardcover and paperback), Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991. ISBN 0-87113-457-8 (Published in the United Kingdom by Secker and Warburg, as well as Picador.) There is a section on the hotel as it was in 1987.
  8. ^ https://www.rt.com/news/335475-syria-aleppo-iconic-hotel-refugees/
  9. ^ Times, Alan Cowell, Special To The New York (1990-02-24). "Aleppo Journal; A Small Hotel, Its Memories Fading". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-20.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Charles de Gaule and Agatha Christie's old haunt closes in Syria". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  11. ^ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/09/world/rockefellers-memory-endures-aleppo-hotel-fighting-intensifies/
  12. ^ "The Hotel Baron in Aleppo". Qantara: Dialogue with Islamic world. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  13. ^ "Return to Aleppo: A squandered legacy". Al-Monitor. 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
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