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Hotels in Lebanon have been hit hard by a drop in tourists. Some have closed, others have sealed off floors and reduced staff. Despite this, construction at the soon-to-open Smallville Hotel in Badaro continues [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
This cold, sparse room will eventually be transformed into the hotel's bar and lobby [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
From the 21-storey building, guests can see much of Beirut [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Mosaic tiles are placed in the rooftop pool, which overlooks the Beirut race course [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
The hotel has adopted a policy of using only LED lights due to their longer life and better efficiency [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
A worker puts the finishing touches to a wall outside one of the hotel's 190 rooms [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Muhammad Chakid, a worker from Aleppo, Syria, tapes a door to protect it [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
The rooms are being decorated with some 8,000 square meters of wallpaper, imported from England [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
The hotel is due to open in summer 2013 [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Decorators add wallpaper strips to the ceiling in one of the hotel's 190 rooms [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Each floor features three suites and eight standard rooms [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Painter Assaf Issa, 18, from Idlib, Syrria takes a break from sanding [Photo: Sam Tarling/Executive]
Inside the making of Lebanon’s Smallville Hotel
