So I'm planning on buying a Nintendo Wii U in Beirut and thought I'd share my research.
I'll be updating this as I gather more information and when I actually buy the console.
If you find any errors or have any useful information to add, please do comment.

Updates:
- I bought an NTSC Wii U from a local store for around $450 (picture at the bottom)
- I successfully bought a game from the Canada Nintendo eShop using my Lebanese credit card

Disclaimer: Although I do own a Wii U and have bought games online, some of the information here is simply what I have found through researching online and asking on forums.

Buying a Wii U in Lebanon
A new Wii U Deluxe Set (32 GB) currently costs roughly $300 in the US. Shipping from the US would probably cost you just under $100 (including shipping, airport customs fees, VAT, etc.). However, you will generally find it in local shops for around $450. If you're willing to buy refurbished and go through the hassle of shipping though, then you should be able to save a good amount of money by buying a refurbished Wii U directly from Nintendo for around $200.

When buying a Wii U, it's worth taking into account its region as the console, game discs, and the eShop are region-locked. More on this below.

Region Locking
The Wii U console and retail discs of games are region-locked. The regions are: America (NTSC-U), Europe & Australia (PAL), and Japan (NTSC-J). A Wii U will only play discs of its same region, so it's best to get a Wii U of the same region as that of most game discs you see around local shops. The Wii U's region also determines what countries' eShops the console can access (more on the eShop below). Note that the Wii U Gamepad (the main controller with the touchscreen) also has some sort of region locking, though this should generally not be an issue as the Wii U ships with a Gamepad, and for local multiplayer purposes you may purchase Controllers or Wiimotes: imgur.com/hh6fXR4.png
It should be possible to tell the region of a Wii U and a game disc from the box; namely there'll be an ESRB logo on NTSC ones and a PEGI logo on PAL ones. You'll also be able to tell from the settings of your Wii U console -the software version would be followed by U for NTSC-U, E for PAL, or J for NTSC-J.

Buying Games in Lebanon
Wii U retail game discs use the proprietary "Wii U Optical Disc" format and are not "Blu Ray" discs, in case you're wondering. You'll find Wii U game discs being sold for around $80 in local shops. Again, make sure the game discs are the same region as your Wii U console to be able to play them (see above).

An alternative is buying games digitally from the eShop. It helps to be owning the Deluxe Set with 32 GB and not the Basic Set with only 8 GB of storage for this. Accessing and buying games from the eShop can be a little tricky. The bad news is that the eShop is not officially supported in all countries around the world, and Lebanon is one of those unsupported countries. The good news is that it's easy enough to set the country for your Wii U through its settings (System Settings > Other Settings > Profile > Region Settings). Only countries within the console's region will be listed though. Once you select a supported country, the eShop should be accessible. Accessing the eShop is one thing; purchasing from it is another. Not all eShop countries allow you to purchase from the eShop using a foreign (e.g. Lebanese) credit/debit card. For example, you can only purchase from the US eShop with a US credit/debit card. Fortunately, though, each region seems to contain a country that does. For American NTSC-U consoles, choosing "Canada" should allow purchases with your foreign credit/debit cards. For PAL consoles, choosing the "United Kingdom" should have the same effect.

You should be able to switch between eShop countries freely, and any games already downloaded will still be playable, however any eShop credit you have is per country.
If you do not have luck with using your credit/debit card, or do not own ones, you can have someone purchase prepaid eShop cards for you from online third-party sellers like PcGameSupply.com, Play-Asia.com, or MaximusCards.com. Note that prepaid cards are also only valid for certain countries' eShops (should be indicated by seller), so if you plan to use prepaid cards make sure to use an eShop country for which prepaid cards are readily available (I can't seem to find ones for Canada).

Note that if you've set up a Nintendo Network ID on the Wii U, you will not be able to change the country -you will need to change the NNID or add another NNID and buy it from that NNID. Once bought though, and as long as the NNID you used to buy the game with remains on the Wii U, you will be able to play from any user on the console.

One disadvantage of buying from the eShop is that if the Wii U stops working or the NNID is removed, the games are usually gone unless you can get support by calling Nintendo (which probably will not be happy to hear that you are using a different country and might ban your account just for that.)

Phew... glad that part's over. If you're as frustrated by these archaic region-locking measures as many others are, I encourage you to sign the petition at Change.org aimed at Nintendo titled "Stop region blocking" (goo.gl/o7bEPL), and tweet with #EndRegionBlocking and #NintendoRegionFree.

Playing Online

As far as I know, there should be no issues with playing online regardless of country/region.

Power Issues [Important]

This is important: if your Wii U is updating, and there's a sudden power outage, or it's unplugged, it will get bricked!
Personally, I recommend a UPS, turning off automatic updates, and only running updates when the power is not expected to be cut. I bought a PCE 1200VA UPS which provides a few minutes of battery as well as surge protection: pceups.com/Component/Products/Product.asp?ID=99

Regarding the power adapters that come with the Wii U:
The box will contain a power adapter for the console and another for charging the Gamepad. PAL consoles will come with adapters that are marked as 220V, while NTSC consoles will come with adapters marked as 110V. However, there seems to be enough evidence online that suggests that these adapters are in fact the same and are universal 110V-220V regardless of the markings. I have personally tested both my 110V-marked Wii U adapter and Gamepad charger plugging them straight into the socket without any step-down converter and they worked. The plug does have a sort of weird shape though so you might need a simple travel adapter with wide openings. So in my experience, the 110V adapters do work on 220V outlets, but don't blame me if you fry your Wii U somehow!

When You First Turn On the Wii U

After you charge the Gamepad for a few hours and turn on the Wii U for the first time, you will be prompted to connect to WiFi. The recommended course of action at this point is to NOT connect to WiFi. Skip that step. The reason is that you probably do not want your Wii U to start updating itself using your WiFi. Instead, get a Mario Kart 8 or Super Mario 3D World disc and insert it into the Wii U. This should start updating the new Wii U using the game disc. Even if you want to update through WiFi, it is recommended that you skip the update when you first turn on the Wii U and run it later.
Remember: make sure no sudden power outages happen during an update!
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