The Commodore Hotel in Beirut, a haven for journalists during the Lebanese civil war, has closed its doors.
Beirut, 08 April, 2026 by Georges Farah and Siem Kersten.
The Commodore Hotel was a five-star hotel located on Rue Baalbek in the famous Hamra district, the heart of the capital Beirut, where business, shopping and nightlife came together.
The VVL Foundation was able to enjoy the hospitality of the hotel during its visits to Beirut from 2018 to 2023 thanks to our representative person and guide Georges Farah. And made so many memories in and around the hotel. We therefore regret that it is closed.
What many do not know is that the Commodore hotel holds a special place in the history of Lebanon.
History
During the Lebanese Civil War, the Commodore became the hotel of choice in the international news media, providing a safe haven for many Lebanese and foreign correspondents and diplomats on missions between 1975 and 1987. It served as an unofficial newsroom for many where they could submit messages even if the communication systems elsewhere failed. Armed guards at the door provided some protection, as sniper battles and shelling turned the cosmopolitan city into rubble.
When registering at the hotel, guests were greeted with the question: "Artillery side or car bomb side?" Another fixture in the hotel during the Civil War was the regular parrot Coco, which often startled visitors by imitating the sound of incoming shells. The bird disappeared during fighting in 1987.
In February 1986, a week of fighting took place between the Druze (PSP) and Amal militias. The PSP expelled the Amal militias from most of West Beirut. The hotel was extensively looted for days. The order was restored on February 22 with the arrival of the Syrian army, which re-entered West Beirut for the first time since the evacuation in August 1982. Due to the looting and structural damage, the hotel was demolished and rebuilt in early February 1987.
Copyright © Photo is from the private collection Mr. Georges Boustany
It reopened in February 1996 and was affiliated with Concorde Hotels of France.
The country's economy, on the other hand, began to cautiously recover from a prolonged financial crisis that began in 2019. Tensions in the region and the aftermath of the Israel-Hezbollah war, which ended in November 2024 by a fragile ceasefire, unfortunately caused many tourists to stay away. Prolonged daily power outages force companies to rely on expensive private generators. The rekindled military tensions and bombings that have been taking place since 2025 have led the hotel to cease operations in January 2026 and close its doors permanently.