Business contacts

Mobile phone hire: Lebanon uses the GSM network (so most mobile phones are compatible), but phones cannot be hired as lines remain incredibly expensive. If you have your own mobile phone a line can be bought from the two local mobile networks, MTC Touch and Alfa Telecom. Car hire: Avis, Middle East Car Rental Co Tel: 01366245 Rue Kantari Budget Car Rental, National Lebanese Co Tel: 01740741 Rue Marie Curie, Hertz Rent a Car Tel: 01423244 Avenue S. Solh.

Office rental: There are no offices to rent for short periods of time. Most hotels have business centres available for work. If you are staying for lengthy periods of time try Sodeco Gestion – a real estate company which will rent office space for a minimum of one month at a time. www.sodecogestion.com or call 01616000.

Local press

The Guide is probably the best source of information in English for entertainment listings in Beirut including cinema, theatre, exhibition and concert listings. The Agenda Culturel is in French but remains the best guide to cultural events going on in the city.
The primary English newspaper and source of reference for local, regional and international news is The Daily Star. It has a brilliant cultural section too. In French the paper to get is the daily L’Orient Le Jour. Most international publications are available but usually a day late except the International Herald Tribune which is published with The Daily Star.

Internet cafes

Most of the internet cafes are located in the Hamra area of Beirut, though nearly all hotels have access. Certain cafes like Starbucks and Lina’s of which there are branches in all the main neighbourhoods have wi-fi available at a value for money cost. All the top hotels either have wi-fi availability throughout their establishments and in rooms or provide cable connections in rooms.

Momento Labban Street, next to AUB, Beirut Tel: 01 862654 Fax:01 811815
PC Club Mahatma Gandhi Street, Hamra, Beirut
Sky Net Street 53 (off Mahatma Gandhi Street), Hamra, Beirut Smith’s Info Village 49 Rue Sadat, Hamra
The Net Mahatma Gandhi Street, Hamra, Beirut
Vacuum Corniche el-Mazraa, Beirut Tel: 03 869 245 vacuum@digi.net.lb
Web Cafe Makhoul Street, Hamra, Beirut Tel:01 348 881 cafe@mail.webc.com.lb

Money

Currency: LL2,000 = £1.00 / LL1,500 = $1.00. The Lebanese currency is Lira but US dollars are used as legal tender everywhere. There are numerous banks all over Beirut and plenty of ATMs. Nearly all hotels offer exchange services though very places if any accept foreign bank cheques though traveller’s cheques are. All credit cards are accepted as are debit cards. Banks open six days a week accept on public holidays from 8am – 3 pm (12 pm on Saturdays).

Tipping etiquette

Standard rules apply-10% for restaurants if the service is not included (though be sure to check the bill) and if it is then a discretionary tip can be left. Tipping is a very common practice and varies from place to place. It is discretionary but expected. Hotel bellboys and porters, parking attendants will always expect a minimum of 3,000LL ($2) Bare in mind that the average wage in Lebanon is 200$ a month.

Visa /vaccinations

A visa is needed when entering Lebanon and must be bought from the embassy in London or any other Lebanese embassy prior to arrival. It can also be purchased at the airport on arrival but check with the British Embassy website in Lebanon for this policy can be changed at any time depending on diplomatic relations between the UK and Lebanon. A one month single entry visa cost about 20 Sterling (35$) payable in dollars, lira or by credit card. A multiple-entry visa must be purchased at a Lebanese embassy or consulate in your country of origin and costs about 40 Sterling or 70$. Make sure to have no stamps on your passport from Israel for Lebanon and its southern neighbour remain at war and any proof of a visit to Israel will result in immediate deportation. No vaccinations are necessary.

Public holidays

Lebanon has one of the highest numbers of public holidays for a Middle Eastern country with all the major Christian and Islamic holy dates observed including Easter, Christmas and Ramadan. Islamic holidays are based on sightings of the moon, so dates can vary:
Jan 1st – New Year’s Day
Jan 21st-23rd – Eid al_Adha
February 10th – Islamic New Year
March 25th - Good Friday
April 21st – Milad al-Nabi (Prophet Mohammed’s birthday)
May 1 – May Day Holiday
Nov 3rd – 5th – Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan)
November 21st – Lebanon Independence Day

Weather and climate

Lebanon’s climate is Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters with temperatures in Beirut ranging from around 29 C in the summer to 16 c in the winter. Being a polluted urban capital like most major cities today it can also get humid and muggy on really hot days in the summer, but in mountain areas of Lebanon the weather is generally much cooler and far more pleasant.

Suggested reading

1. Robert Fisk’s Pity The Nation: Lebanon at War, (Oxford 1992) is the best journalistic work on the country’s devastating Civil War and gives an in depth picture of the history and nature of the Lebanese people that created the circumstances for war and which have left such a legacy today.
2. K. Salibi’s A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered, (London 1988) is one of the most respected histories of the nation.
3. C. Winslow’s Lebanon: War and Politics in a Fragmented Society, (London 1996) is a more recent study of the country
4. The Hedonist’s Guide to Beirut (London 2005) is perhaps the best English language guide on what’s going in Lebanon’s capital city and how to party in this city of night owls.