With the opening of Villa Moda-
a chic, luxury boutique in the souq set within a converted
17th century old stable, and the opening up of
several new luxury boutique hotels( read: respectful
restoration of vernacular buildings rather than new,
design hotels), Damascus is set to to be the new
style and cultural capital of the Middle East.
Luxury travel in Syria facilitates the best boutique
hotels (possibly in the region), a knowledge of the
best places around town as well as an ability to
connect you with the best guides. Whilst Syria,
frequently cited as an axis in the 'junior varsity
of evil' during Bush's era might not strike most as
a typical luxury destination, probably lacking in
the necessary infrastructure for the luxury
traveler, we at Urbane Nomads are of the opinion
that Syria presents many opportunities for the
adventurous luxury traveler. Quite shut off from the
rest of the world (for reasons less romantic than,
say, Bhutan's 'Hidden Kingdom' analogy admittedly),
Syria has retained much of the charm of its history
and culture, with an amazingly sophisticated take on
its boutique luxury hotels.
Urbane Nomads believes that luxury travel is more
than just about the most luxurious hotels in Syria and we
sometimes take a risk by combining stays in the most
luxurious suites in these hotels with an ascetic
stay in a practicing monastery in the Syrian hills.
Aleppo, en route via the Taurus Express (the setting
of Agatha Christie's Murder on The Orient Express)from Istanbul used to be a glamorously exotic
stopover. Walking the halls of the Hotel Baron in
Aleppo provides one with an intimation of this
period. The suites here are named after its
glamorous habitues- Agatha Christie, Lawrence of
Arabia or Kemal Ataturk (who mounted machine guns on
its roof terrace during the World War).
A trip through Syria with Urbane Nomads takes you
through Palmyra, the Syrian end of the Silk Route
and the setting of Queen Zenobia's ambitions,
revisiting Aleppo's culture and history and
possibly, an idea of why all roads lead to Damascus.
Photo courtesy of David Chambers