If you're coming from overseas, planning for a place to stay is one of the hardest things to do.  If you will be staying for some time we recommend checking into a hotel (like the Port View or Mayflower) for a couple weeks until you find a place that suits you.  It is really hard to arrange long term housing from overseas. 

Good places to look for apartments and roommates are our housing forum, craigslist Beirut, the wall at the AUB post office, Daily Star classified ads, Ahlein.net and EWaseet (a weekly classified ads newspaper).  There are two main areas of Beirut that are easily accessible, either "Hamra" or "Ashrafiye" (Ashrafiye is closer to Saifi).  So when you are looking for an apartment look for these neighborhoods in Hamra: "Hamra", "Manara", "Ras Beirut", "Karakas", and these neighborhoods in Ashrafiyeh: "Gemayze", "Mar Mikhael", "Jeitawi", "Sioufi".

A private furnished apartment ranges between $400-$800 per month for 1-2 bedrooms, and a room in a shared apartment will cost around $3-400 per month ($200 if you're lucky).  Add around $40/month for electricity and water.

In Lebanese culture it is very unusual to live outside of the house until one is married, so your roommate is most likely going to be another foreigener.