Dabane Palace — Attraction in Sidon

Complaint against the museum keeper at Debbane; The Palace itself is beautiful and well maintained. I arrived at the Debbané Palace in Sidon at 4:35pm on March 23, 2015. The museum, with its sign indicating an opening hour of 9 to 5 except Fridays, was unattended and locked. Kind vendors around the museum told me to return in five minutes, which I did. At 4:40-45 when I returned, the museum keeper had already locked up the entire museum and was chatting with his friends on the street. He told me rudely that the museum was already closed and refused to make any compromise. Throughout this conversation he did not even look at me. Finding his behavior disrespectful, I insisted and reminded him of the posted museum hours. Annoyed, he told me to return "tomorrow" with an extremely unfriendly tone.

It was when I told him that I would report his terrible attitude and behavior to the Ministry of Tourism that his attitude took a U-turn. He quickly opened up the door, turning himself into the nicest guide ever. I found his suddenly enthusiastic behavior so hard to swallow that I had to tell him to stop acting like that since he had already ruined my mood with his rude behavior earlier on.

When I left the museum, he asked me why I did not give him thanks. I turned back and told him that he did not deserve it because of his earlier behavior. At that moment, he raised his voice and screamed at me, ordering me to get out of his museum while blasting me with profanity such as "shxt" in both English and Arabic.

There cannot be any misunderstanding in this matter. This museum keeper (1) was irresponsible in his work because he left the museum unattended 30 minutes before closure and intended to leave 15-20 minutes before its posted closure; (2) was unwelcoming to guests by treating them coldly and telling them to leave despite the fact that the guests arrived during the designated time; (3) pretended to be friendly after the threat of a complaint, giving evidence of his knowledge of his unprofessional working ethic and wrongdoing; and (4) betrayed the most basic tenets of hospitality by cursing his guests and slamming the museum door (public property) behind the guests. In view of (1) - (4), I find him unprofessional and unsuitable...

Discovered it accidentally whilst wandering in the Medina, old souq streets of the beautiful city of Sidon (Saida). A lovely palace with a tint of Ottoman, French, Moroccan and what not influences. Very well preserved given the fact it's quite old. The Furniture is still in very good shape. On showcase are cutlery, guns and some very exotic musical instruments. If for nothing else, visit it for the collection of musical instruments at least as there are so many which I've never seen or even heard of. At the entrance doorway, the door is usually closed and you need to ring the doorbell for the lady to come out and open the door letting you in. The entrance fee is LBP200,000 ($2.25), well worth a visit if you have too much...

The best touristic site to visit in Saida! The women working there welcomed us warmly and explained the history of the palace and gave us a nice tour. The place is very well maintained and it's very affordable to visit at 20,000 LL at the time of this writing. This place is 300 years old while its furniture is 100 years old. It looks really nice and it’s worth visiting! You can get a top view of the city of Saïda from the roof! Highly recommended if you're...