The Battle of the Hotels was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War that occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first major battles of the war that began in April 1975.
The battle was fought for the possession of a small hotel complex, the St. Charles City Center, adjacent to the gilded Corniche seafront area on the Mediterranean, in the north-western corner of the downtown district of Beirut, and it quickly spread to other areas of central Beirut. The often fierce battles that ensued were fought with heavy exchanges of rocket and artillery fire from the various hotel rooftops and rooms. Sniper fire was commonly utilized.
The ruined Holiday Inn Beirut in the hotel district of Beirut, with the Phoenicia in front of it on the right in 2009
The Holiday Inn Beirut was used as a vantage point for militias and was badly damaged
Ruins of the Saint-Georges Hotel, on the right in 2005
Bachir Pierre Gemayel was a Lebanese militia commander who led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the Kataeb Party in the Lebanese Civil War and was elected President of Lebanon in 1982.
Bachir Gemayel as a child.
Gemayel with his father Pierre.
Gemayel with Kataeb Regulatory Forces militiamen.
Gemayel in the street
