Beirut Hotel and Lebanon Trip advice

Hi!

I have a 3.5 day holiday to Lebanon next week. Whilst I've read as much as I can to plan things, I would really appreciate any advice/recommendation on my plans.

1. Beirut Hotel

I am thinking to base myself the whole stay in University Hotel across from the American University.

It seems to meet my priorities of somewhere fairly cheap for a private room in a good location.  But I can't really find any reviews except the official LP review which is a bit old.  

Has anyone stayed in the University Hotel and what was it like? I am not expecting much but just need it to be functional, clean and safe.

1. Trip plan and how best to get around

As I said, I have 3.5 days total in Lebanon. So I am wondering if an afternoon walking around Beirut on my first day plus evenings is enough to see main things and get a feel of Beirut?

My initial plan, which has sort of been copied from a previous recommended post and would be something like below. Although I am a bit concerned I will get history/ruins overload, so that is why I am thinking of any good adventure/hiking activities anyone can suggest.

 Although I am pretty fast when it comes to sight-seeing, I am not sure if I am packing in too much, especially day 2.

Finally, has anyone used Nakhal tours? They seem good but worried that it's a big coach tour rather than something slightly more private like a minivan. Also, are these tours generally worth it when you take into account admission fees, lunch provided vs what I'd need to pay organising myself (not sure how much admission fees are in general) 

Well any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!
    

Day 1 - Tour Of Beirut  (self- walking)
Hamra street - Walk the street:Shops - Coffee Shops 
Raouche/manara - Beach + Raouche Rock
Verdun - Shopping Street
Down town - "Martyr Square, post war rebuilt area, Parliament.
Achrafieh - narrow streets of old Christian district

Day 2 - North Lebanon. (think I need to do this with private taxi given the route)
Jeita - Famous Grotto
Jbeil - Phoenician Ruins + Crusaders' Castle, the port, the old souk, roman amphitheater
Bsharre - mar Sarkis monastery, Gibran's museum, Cedar groves

Day 3 - East Lebanon
Mountain Drive - several famous lebanese villages
Bekaa - Fields
Baalbeck - Roman temple
Anjar - the umayyad castle
Zahle + Kefrayya - Wineries

Day 4 - TBC ,  either tour towards South of Beirut, or a great hike, or day trip to Damascus leaving very early, or 1 more day in Beirut.

Clubs and nighttime attractions (guess this might need an update!)
Music Hall
Skybar
Acid
milk
De Prague
Club Sociale
Bardot
Downtown Area
Monot Street
Gemmayzeh Street

I think this is rather too busy. Below I go into shoehorning your itinerary in, and also suggest very busy, but saner alternatives. My Lebanon photos are here in case they may help narrow or broaden your search.

1. Don't know it. Stayed at the Mayflower (5 minutes from the University, good bar), which in my experience offers discounts from the posted prices if one asks nicely.

2. Where are you planning on sleeping? Returning to Beirut each night would be a little much on an already crowded itinerary.

Also, you absolutely don't need to go on a tour unless you want to. It's easily managed by public transport and (shared or hired) taxi.

Day 1--Beirut is easily wandered on foot. If you are after "sights" but not including the National Museum, you can make pretty short work of it. If you just want to stroll around, you could spend several days there with no trouble. You may not get to all on your list in a day, but down to Martyrs Square area and the Corniche very easily.

Day 2 is pretty packed. You can get to the grotto and Byblos easily by public transport--much cheaper and you'll be stuck in the same traffic, so not much slower. I have not seen the grotto. Have been to Byblos a couple of times. The main center can be seen quickly as it's compact (all those sights are in a very small area).

The trip to Bcharre has me a bit concerned. Are you planning on zipping up there and then back down to Beirut for the night? Seems daft. If you are determined to go so far from Beirut, you could go up, spend the night, and then have a rewarding day's hiking in Wadi Qannoubine. Then that evening or the next morning head over the mountains to Baalbek.

Day 3 is similarly too packed in my opinion. Pick any two, but make sure one is Baalbek.

Day 4--Again, you don't need a tour. There are tons of shared taxis heading south of Beirut. A daytrip to Damascus is a little much, as you're talking three hours each way and Damascus is worth several days in its own right. Lebanon is of course worth several times the 3.5 days you have budgeted, but there you go.

I have no idea about the nightspots.

If I had only 3.5 days and wanted to do a whirlwind trip I would:

A--Spend a day between Beirut and Byblos, at the end of the day heading up to Bcharre and spending the night there or in nearby Hasroun. Day two would be a hike in Wadi Qannoubine for most of the day, then a taxi over the pass to Baalbek for the night, waving at the Cedars along the way (by the way the pass is open only seasonally so depends on your schedule whether this can be done). Day three would be Baalbek plus Anjar (I haven't yet been) and anything else I wanted to see in that area if I were a lightning-fast tourer of ruins, which I'm not, and returning to Beirut for the night.

B--Go down to Tyre and/or Sidon for the first day, heading back north to Byblos to sleep (any two of these can be seen as a daytrip by shared taxi, or you could of course spend more time in either). Day two see Byblos and then (1) up to Bcharre for two nights including hiking, then back to Beirut for flight out, or (2) over to Baalbek etc., stay the night, see some more on the morning of day three and then head back to Beirut.

I stayed in the University Hotel - it's nice, very clean and secure, excellent location and good value for money.

I spent 6 days in Beirut recently and used Nakhal for a couple of out of town excursions - including Baalbeck, Jettah and Byblos. I would say they are as good as any other large coach tour sightseeing excursion I've done anywhere else in the world. I can't comment on value or compare with alternatives - I was only there for a short time, couldn't be bothered working out to how to get there myself and wanted to be guided. Luckily for me on this trip the cost ($75/$80 inc lunch) wasn't an issue.

Their booking process isn't brilliant - you need to make sure you have a confirmed booking. If there are 3 or 4 of you you may want to consider doing a private tour - even with a guide and using Nakhal this may be cheaper, and certainly would be using a local taxi driver.

Don't even think about Nakhal for sightseeing in Beirut itself, completely unnecessary. I would recommend the "Walk Beirut" walking tour http://www.bebeirut.org/