The Forest Park Hotel stands amidst its own 20 acres of Forest
and Gardens. Founded by George. H. Skyrianides and officially
opened in July 1936, it was then the only hotel in Cyprus able to
cater for its clients at International Standards. With its large
Ballroom, Dinning Rooms, Bar, Library and Sitting Rooms it was in
a position to cater for the discerning clients such as: the late
King Farouk of Egypt, Princess Royal Mary of England and many
other clients from Palestine, the Sudan and Egypt. In 1936 the
author Daphne du Maurier spent one month here with her husband
and in that time wrote one of her well known novels
"Rebecca".
Originally the Hotel had 70 Bedrooms and then in 1948 a
further 30 were added, making 100 Rooms. At the time this was a
large Hotel for Cyprus. It should be mentioned that during the
Second World War the hotel was commandeered as an Army Hospital.
It had a similar fate during the Suez Canal Operation 1956, when
it was taken to act as Head quarters for the Field Records.
Unfortunately, from the mid-fifties when the King of Egypt was
ousted the Mountain Resorts in Cyprus had a very difficult time.
They barely opened for a few weeks in the summer. Then in the
late 50's the trend charged from the healthy mountain holidays to favoring hot and humid coastal resorts. It was not until the
mid-sixties that the British Tour Operators could be persuaded to
offer two-Centre holidays, and tourists came once again to the
mountains.
In the early seventies a Third Floor was added with ten Rooms
and major refurbishment carried out. In the early eighties six
chalet Suites were built in the grounds, mainly for the Arab
Sheikhs - amongst the Leader of Kuwait and Qatar. The Hotel
underwent major renovations in the late 80's and early 90's,
until its final extension of 54 new Bedrooms and Suites, Indoor Heated Pool,
Gymnasium, two Saunas, Jacuzzi and Hairdressing Salon.
The Forest Park Hotel is family run and under the personal
supervision of the owners, now in their fourth generation.