A refusal to stay politely outside the lines.

A kiss might seem somewhat ordinary now, but back in 1896, it was daring enough to make history.

That year, Thomas Edison’s studios tossed conformity aside and filmed a kiss that would shake Victorian society.

But was it really cinema’s first kiss ?

A Valentine’s Day Playlist for the Senses

Valentine’s Day playlists often lean into the obvious: saccharine ballads, predictable pop duets, and the same love songs recycled year after year. 

For those who appreciate romance with a twist, Rat d’hôtel presents a different kind of Valentine’s Day songs. It’s a selection of tracks that whisper, tease, and envelop you in a haze of nostalgia, seduction, and longing. A mix of jazz, soul, global grooves, and cinematic sounds that set the mood without dictating it.

Chateau Kefraya picture by Eli.

On arrival here, one of the first thing that caught my senses strongly was the smell of jasmine.

Beirut cables. How to not see them ? Making a valse, from one building to another, they dance. If you follow their lines, they’ll show you the city in a special way. These electricity transporters create abstract sculptures in the sky, scroll onto buildings, merge with the trees. It seems as if they hold the city together.