The Holiday Inn Beirut: An Abandoned Hotel Destroyed By The Lebanese Civil War
Wikimedia CommonsThe towering Holiday Inn Beirut, a hotel that’s been abandoned for decades.
The Holiday Inn Beirut was a 26-story hotel that became one of the most symbolic casualties of the violent Lebanese Civil War.
Opened in 1974, it was designed as a gleaming example of modern hospitality in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which was then known as the “Paris of the Middle East.” The hotel featured 400 rooms, with stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea and the city. It was also positioned on what would become a demarcation line, dividing the city between the Christian factions in eastern Beirut and the Muslim factions in the western portion.
Shortly after the hotel opened, Lebanon descended into civil war.
The Holiday Inn’s location made it a crucial strategic position, offering commanding views over the divided city and the sea. Per The Guardian, this paved the way for the “war of the hotels” in 1975 and 1976, where various fighters from both sides clashed while trying to gain control of Beirut’s high-rise hotels, transforming them into battlefields and places filled with sniper positions. The Holiday Inn Beirut saw some of the most brutal fighting.
Wikimedia CommonsGunfire damage is still visible on the Holiday Inn Beirut.
The hotel was gutted by rocket fire, artillery, and small arms. Its facade became riddled with thousands of bullet holes and shell impacts. Floors were damaged, windows were shattered, and the interior was mostly destroyed. What had once been a symbol of Lebanon’s prosperity and promise became a scarred monument to the violence of civil war.
When the civil war ended in 1990, the Holiday Inn remained standing, but it was largely destroyed. Unlike other structures that were rebuilt during Beirut’s postwar reconstruction, though, the Holiday Inn was left untouched — too damaged to renovate, yet too challenging to demolish easily.
And so, for decades, it has stood as a stark reminder of the war, its bullet-riddled concrete tower visible throughout the city.
