Where to Stay in Syria

Syria divides into four lodging universes. Damascus hands you Ottoman courtyard houses flipped into boutique hotels, marble-floored business towers, and family-run pensions inside the Old City where jasmine vines spill across 600-year-old stone. Aleppo's khans and caravanserais have reopened as moody guesthouses ringing the citadel, while coastal Latakia and Tartus stack Soviet-era resort blocks beside slick glass hotels staring at the Mediterranean. Push east to Palmyra and the desert towns and you'll bunk in plain guesthouses, drifting off as the muezzin's call ricochets off ancient columns. Prices sit well under Mediterranean norms. A clean double in central Damascus usually lands at $25-45; seaside resorts in Latakia jump to $60-120 in July. Budget travelers can squeeze by on $10-15/night in family guesthouses. Luxury hides in Damascus and Latakia, limited to a clutch of high-rise business hotels and polished heritage mansions. Security steers every booking. Hotels outside Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, Tartus, and Homs city center demand advance security clearance. Most places now handle the paperwork for foreign guests. Expect airport-style scanners in the lobby and polite but thorough bag checks.