It’s the closest thing Beirut has to it’s own version of La Voile Rouge, that St. Tropez beach club that defines the Cote Azur summer. Located on the eastern-end of the famed Corniche, this cool beach café and lounge is a social hub for glamorous Middle Easterners and the occasional Hollywood celebrity. Located next to the opulent main restaurant, formerly known as Café d’Orient, the terrace space is actually a concrete embankment along the Mediterranean strewn with cool white-cushioned sofas, teak sun loungers and oversize umbrellas.

The oceanfront café is arranged around a large swimming pool and swim-up bar with afternoon DJs during busier summer weekends. There’s also a pier-front tanning ledge for those demanding a bit more social space, but beware as they are always occupied by a crazy collection of bikini-clad singles. The spot is one of the best for be-seen lunches, summertime tanning and late-afternoon soirees attracting a cool mix of Beirut’s sexiest.

Last Word

Perhaps the poshest place to tan in the entire city, La Plage is a dining and lounge masterpiece popular with Beirut social-climbers and blue blood aristocrats.