Hotels & Lodging

Jerusalem Hotels

This review of Jerusalem hotels reflect only my own views, based on my personal standards.

Deluxe 5 stars – most expensive

  • The King David is Israel’s most famous hotel, mainly for its history and being the government’s guest house. It’s old fashioned (not modern and a bit shabby), with a great location and excellent service. But if official guests are there you are going to be searched a lot, and if fully booked it can be quite noisy.
  • The David Citadel – Bill Clinton preferred it. It’s modern and in an excellent location, but there’s nothing of Jerusalem’s soul in it.
  • The Mamilla Hotel is the most recently developed of the group, with an excellent location, personal service, and modern architecture. It tries to be exclusive.
  • The American Colony in East Jerusalem is operate by Palestinian staff. There’s excellent service, the rooms are like in a dream, and it’s all very romantic. But they do not know to prepare good espresso.

5 stars or equivalent

4 stars or equivalent

  • The Dan Panorama – You get what you pay for. It’s close to lots of restaurants and not too far from downtown and the Old City.
  • The Dan Boutique – a good price and close to the Old City, the view of which you should insist on.
  • The YMCA’s Three Arch Hotel – old-style great architecture, great location, a bit shabby.

3 stars or equivalent

  • The Eldan – very central.
  • The Harmony is located downtown. It’s new and the price is excellent. Outside the hotel it’s a bit noisy and dirty on weekends.

Zimmer Bat Yam

Our grandmother left my family a one-bedroom apartment in Bat Yam, 10 km south of Tel Aviv. This year we invested money and some creativity to change it into a holiday apartment. It’s located at 12 Sokolov street, next to the big synagogue, a block away from the the beach. The building it’s in contains only eight apartments and has a secure glass front door with intercom.

The apartment has a living room with a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom with shower and toilet. It is optimal for couples but also good for small families. There are two big windows, a big bed, a small office table, two air-conditioners, a dining table, a microwave, a toaster, an electric kettle, a fridge, an electric plate, and cutlery. It comes with internet and cable TV.