Located in The Mayflower, the oldest private hotel in town, this is a suitably old school bar. Like Ron Burgundy's apartment, it smells of rich mahogany and, for a more relaxed evening, you can park yourself in one of their dark red leather armchairs, have a pint of Al Mazaa and breathe in the history.

It's where most British journalists would stay (and drink) during the war and our barman even tried to claim that Graham Greene was still a regular visitor, but seeing as he died (aged 86) back in 1991, that's almost certainly not the case. But he was a frequent guest of the hotel, along with Graham Hill and Kim Philby et al when Beirut was the place to come back in the 60s. In that case, it's good enough for us!

Written by Will Dobson