The stone façade of the guesthouse seen across its terrace, with canvas sling chairs in the foreground and pine-covered mountains rising behind

Two hundred years a monastery,now a guesthouse

In the pine forests above Byblos

Plan your staySee the rooms

Welcome

The house was here long before us

SaQi takes its name from the village around it — سَقي, to irrigate, to give water. The spring that named the place still runs.

Two hundred years a monastery, restored slowly and deliberately: original stone left where it stood, lime plaster instead of cement, old windows repaired rather than replaced.

The old stone façade of the guesthouse with a bare vine trained across it, a pair of French doors, and a bench set outside in the morning sun
An antique hand-drawn land survey of the village in Arabic, showing the terraced plots in blue ink

Stay

Three rooms, and the quiet between them

One under a stone arch that was always there. One whitewashed and hung with drying herbs. One with two bedrooms, for a family travelling together.

  • The Ermite room, with a kilim rug across the floor and French doors standing open onto the garden

    Ermite

    2 guests

    The hermit's room, under the stone arch that was always there. French doors open straight onto the garden.

  • The Thyme room, with green-painted ceiling beams, hanging plants in woven baskets and a bed dressed in pink

    Thyme

    2 guests

    Whitewashed, with dried herbs hung from the beams and a wall of glass bottles set into the plaster.

  • A single bed in the Peony room beneath a tall arched niche in the white plaster wall, with a sheepskin thrown across it

    Peony

    2 guests

    Whitewashed walls, an arched niche and a bunk built into the stone — the room for families travelling together.

Enquire about a room →

A whitewashed alcove in the Thyme room, with yellow mimosa in a glass jar, folded towels in a woven basket, and green and clear bottle bases set into the wall
A carved stone basin set against the bare stone wall of the Ermite room, beneath a dark round mirror
A bathroom in the old monastery, with an arched stone window recess, ochre walls and a stone bath surround
A bedroom with deep ochre walls, an arched stone window recess and an antique wooden wardrobe, the bed covered in an embroidered floral quilt
A breakfast table laid with fried eggs, tomato and cucumber salad, bread and blue ceramic bowls
Two jars of homemade preserves labelled by hand — tomato sauce and vine leaves — standing on a stone wall

Dine

Breakfast is the meal we take seriously

Eggs from the hens in the yard, tomatoes and greens from the terraces below the house, labneh, olive oil, za'atar, bread. It arrives on hammered copper.

Through the season we put up what the garden gives — tomato sauce, vine leaves, preserves lined along the pantry shelf for winter.

Artichokes, radishes, tomatoes and cauliflower being washed under running water in a galvanised basin
Hens scratching in the yard, one rust-brown and one white
A ceramic bowl of brown eggs beside a bunch of fresh thyme on a striped cloth
A woman in a white shirt smiling as she holds an armful of heirloom tomatoes just picked from the garden
A long table laid for a gathering under the awning, ringed with red velvet chairs beneath bundles of drying herbs

Gather

The long table seats everyone

A birthday, a small wedding lunch, a group of friends on retreat. Room for gatherings that want to move slowly and stay outdoors.

Enquire about gatherings

Guest book

  • We came for two nights and rearranged the rest of the trip to stay four.

    Léa, 2024

  • The children have not asked for a screen since we arrived.

    Karim, 2024

  • I have never eaten a breakfast that tasted so much of the place it came from.

    Sophie, 2023
A renovated 200-year-old former monastery, surrounded by pine forest and hiking trails.
Hotel Libanais

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@saqiguesthouse

  • Pink and white peonies flowering in the garden
  • Three fried eggs dusted with sumac on a hammered copper tray, served with potatoes, tomato and herbs
  • A stone basin set into the wall of the Rosemary room beneath a small wooden mirror, with dried grasses hanging alongside
  • A large rosemary bush in full pale blue flower in the garden
  • Two jars of homemade preserves labelled by hand — tomato sauce and vine leaves — standing on a stone wall
  • The resident dog stretched out asleep on an antique wooden bench against a stone wall

Enquire

Write to us

We answer every enquiry ourselves, so it may take a day.

Where
Saqi Rechmaiya, Byblos District
20 minutes from Byblos

Booking is by enquiry for now. Online booking with live availability is coming.

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