The Commodore Hotel in the 1970s. (Photo from the private collection of Georges Boustany)
During the years leading up to the Lebanese Civil War, as well as those that followed, Beirut's Commodore Hotel was nothing particularly remarkable. It certainly lacked any resemblance to what one could call mythical or legendary.Unlike the luxurious hotel establishments that contributed to the glory of the 1960s and '70s — Lebanon's “golden age” embodied by the Phoenicia, Holiday Inn, Saint-Georges or the Excelsior — the Commodore stood out for its modesty, practicality and more affordable rates.Unlike those quasi-palaces whose bars, nightclubs, pools, flamboyant decors and restaurants attracted the local and international jet-set crowd, the Commodore targeted a clientele of tourists and business people on more modest budgets.This is precisely the market the visionary Lebanese-Palestinian businessman Youssef Nazzal chose to...
During the years leading up to the Lebanese Civil War, as well as those that followed, Beirut's Commodore Hotel was nothing particularly remarkable. It certainly lacked any resemblance to what one could call mythical or legendary.Unlike the luxurious hotel establishments that contributed to the glory of the 1960s and '70s — Lebanon's “golden age” embodied by the Phoenicia, Holiday Inn, Saint-Georges or the Excelsior — the Commodore stood out for its modesty, practicality and more affordable rates.Unlike those quasi-palaces whose bars, nightclubs, pools, flamboyant decors and restaurants attracted the local and international jet-set crowd, the Commodore targeted a clientele of tourists and business people on more modest budgets.This is precisely the market the visionary Lebanese-Palestinian businessman Youssef Nazzal...
