A walk through the Beirut neighbourhood of Gemmayzeh reveals cafes and restaurants filled with conversation and music spilling onto the street. People working on laptops here, friends chatting over coffee there. Glance inside the place next door and there’s a DJ mixing as the sun sets and the city’s hum shifts tune. Turn down a side street and residents, in every expression of elegance, step out of buildings from different eras to head to dinner. Streets are lined with new spots and long-established eateries, all full.
Beirut continues, no matter what.
Lebanon has been navigating regional tensions and wars alongside an ongoing economic crisis and the long process of rebuilding after the 2020 port explosion. The country remains in recovery, but its spirited passion for creative living — sought after around the world for years — endures and evolves. Its cultural and social life, particularly in Beirut, adapts, drawing on the resilience that has shaped it for decades. Longtime hotels, restaurants, and galleries remain — many making remarkable comebacks in a way only Lebanon can. Newcomers add fresh energy to a cultural landscape that never simply returns to what it was.
For those whose lives have chanced upon living in this beautiful city, as well as for first-time visitors, welcome (back) to Beirut.
Stays
Hotel Lost (Gemmayzeh & Achrafieh)
Situated in Gemmayzeh, Hotel Lost is an upscale boutique guesthouse with just 18 rooms located in a repurposed heritage building that overlooks the city’s famous St Nicholas stairs. The name of the hotel refers to the idea of getting lost and discovering beauty in the unknown. Each of the hotel’s rooms offer a different type of design, reflecting Beirut itself by incorporating Ottoman, brutalist, Levantine, and Venetian architectural styles in unison. It offers an intimate cafe and bar area, a pizzeria, and a laid-back Mediterranean restaurant. A second Hotel Lost has opened in nearby Achrafieh, offering the same charm but within a quieter neighbourhood.
@lostgemmayzeh
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Hotel Albergo (Abdel Wahab El Inglizi)
Hotel Albergo is one of the city’s most acclaimed and historic hotels. Now part of the Relais & Châteaux collection, the hotel’s history dates back to a 1930s art deco residential building that was converted into its present form, retaining its unique heritage with its Lebanese/Asian style design, Ottoman chandeliers, Persian rugs, and art deco touches. Each of the hotel’s 33 suites offers a different design, filled with antiques, florals, and antique furniture that whisk guests back to the city’s glamorous era. New and renovated restaurants include The Lobby Café & Courtyard (coffees and wood-fired pizzas) and The Restaurant on the ninth floor (Mediterranean menu with an Italian focus). Don’t forget to spend time at the pool during the warmer months, a true reflection of Mediterranean glamour, Lebanese style.
@hotelalbergo
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Beit Tamanna (Gemmayzeh)
This charming boutique hotel opened its doors in 2023 inside a renovated, authentic Lebanese heritage French-mandate house. It is a must for lovers of design, as all rooms were designed for free by 13 Lebanese and international designers and architects, including Nada Debs, Bokja, and Samer Al Ameen. Each room is colourful and comfortable, decorated with the designer’s signature style. Guests can enjoy a delicious full Lebanese-style breakfast daily. Part of the proceeds from all bookings go to the Tamanna NGO to help critically ill children.
@beit_tamanna @morethanabedbeirut
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Food
Marly’s Bar & Restaurant
This new stylish eatery in the heart of Achrafieh’s Aabrine has rapidly become a hotspot. Founded by Dany Aprat and Paul Aoun, the restaurant fuses Asian/Mediterranean flavours within an upscale, elegantly decorated ambience inspired by the glamour of the 1960s and 1970s. Guests can unwind on the terrace or inside. Favourites include the charred asparagus, salmon brioche, katsu sando, fillet de boeuf, and an innovative matcha tiramisu.
Beit Kanz
This restaurant, housed in a restored Ottoman-era heritage home (1880–1940), brings together food, culture, and community. Established by NGO Beit el Baraka founder Maya Ibrahimchah, the menu features traditional Lebanese cuisine created by food historian Charles al-Hayek. The dishes are made with local ingredients and inspired by a Levantine culinary heritage stretching back over 1,000 years. The venue also includes an artisanal craft and gourmet boutique selling ethical Kanz products handcrafted by over 1,000 Lebanese women.
KAMI Experience
A new urban bar concept serving Japanese fusion cuisine with an innovative twist, KAMI offers a modern interior heightened by the vibrant work of Brazilian graffiti artist Felipe Yung. Perfect for sharing, enjoy unconventional dishes like the tempura avocado topped with bonito flakes, bao buns with black pepper beef, or hamachi sashimi. More substantial is the delicious wagyu katsu sando. KAMI has also partnered with acclaimed DJ and producer Rodge to create an apt playlist.
BARON
For local produce and a constantly evolving fine-dining menu, head past Gemmayzeh towards Mar Mikhael to BARON. Founded in 2016 by Chef Athanasios Kargatzidis, the restaurant creatively fuses Mediterranean and other global flavours. BARON was awarded Best Restaurant in Lebanon by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022 and 2023. The seasonal menu is great for vegetarians, with half the dishes made solely with vegetables. Don’t miss BARON’s iconic whole roast head of cauliflower in spiced butter and yoghurt tahini.
Culture
Sursock Museum
A renowned cultural and contemporary art institution known for its collection of modern and contemporary Lebanese and Arab art as well as its distinctive Venetian and Ottoman architecture. Renowned Lebanese artists such as Shafic Abboud and Saloua Raouda Choucair are often showcased alongside international artists. The museum was extensively renovated between 2007 and 2015 and again after the 2020 port blasts. Current exhibitions include DIVAS: From Oum Koulthoum to Dalida (until January 11, 2026) and Becoming Icon (until June 20, 2027), featuring works from the Sursock collection.
Saleh Barakat Gallery
One of Lebanon’s most acclaimed galleries, it opened in 2016 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of founder Saleh Barakat's first, Agial Art Gallery. Located in a stunning 1,200 sq m space that was once Cinema Clemenceau, it presents a rotating programme of exhibitions featuring leading and established artists from largely Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world, meeting the demands of the evolving Arab art market.
Galerie Tanit
Founded in 2007 to support Lebanese artists and the country’s cultural revival, Galerie Tanit operates in Mar Mikhael as an extension of the original Munich gallery (1972). It presents an ever-evolving showcase of exhibitions highlighting the talents of artists from Lebanon and across the Arab world.
Sfeir-Semler Gallery
Recently marking its 40th year, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, founded by Andrée Sfeir-Semler, now has two locations in Beirut — in Karantina and downtown — in addition to its longstanding Hamburg location. The gallery concentrates on international contemporary art, with a strong focus on Arab artists working on conceptual and minimalist art. Its large 1,000 sq m space in Karantina is often used for larger retrospectives.
