Beirut hotels respond to security threats, review guest reservations: The details

Report by Petra Abou Haidar, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

Four senior commanders of Lebanon’s unit affiliated with Iran’s Quds Force were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the fourth floor of the Ramada Hotel in Rouche late Saturday, according to security sources.

LBCI obtained additional information indicating that the commanders had checked into the hotel five days earlier using a Lebanese travel company, which provided the identities of Lebanese citizens to reserve the rooms. 

The people whose names were used for the bookings checked in and handed the keys to others, who moved in and out freely. Security cameras had reportedly been disabled.

Around 15 rooms in the hotel had been reserved, most of which remained empty. Unconfirmed reports suggest that some aides accompanying the commanders may have survived the strike. 

The same travel company had also reserved approximately 20 rooms at another hotel, which were not occupied; the bookings were canceled immediately after the Ramada incident. Security sources said multiple hotel reservations were a precautionary measure, allowing the commanders to move between rooms for camouflage.

Regarding a separate incident at Comfort Hotel, the hotel owner confirmed that no Iranian personnel were present in the targeted room and provided the name of the Lebanese individual who made the reservation.

Security sources suggest that the Lebanese who reserved the room did so on behalf of the Iranian personnel, who had left the hotel at the time of the strike. There is no confirmed information about any Iranian casualties in that incident.

Following these events, several hotels suspended new bookings for security reasons. Meetings were held between the head of Beirut’s hotel security division, the hotel owners’ association, and the head of Beirut intelligence to discuss enhanced security measures.

Security experts say controlling such risks is not the responsibility of hotels alone. Tracking the locations of high-profile security figures is inherently difficult and generally falls under the state’s jurisdiction, given the specialized capabilities required to target them.