Looking for recommendations on places to stay in Jerusalem and Ein Bokek area, Israel

[stav]

Hi,
I'd appreciate recommendations for apartments in Jerusalem and the area close to Messada , Mitzpe Ramon, Ein Gedi , etc.
Thank you

 

[ItalophileNJ]

Hi Stav ---- I can recommend the apartments rented by Colony Suites in the German Colony. I've stayed in several of their original apartments (on Masaryk, right off Emek Refaim). And I recommended them to Pauline; she's stayed in a few of the larger ones that are in different buildings but still same neighborhood. They are extremely well run, and pretty reasonable.

Well located, very close to many bus lines and the wonderful new boardwalk that starts at the First Station. They are NOT near the Light Rail. Some people now like to stay near Mahane Yehuda, but I find this neighborhood more pleasant.

Can't help you with Masada and the other more southerly locations, but Pauline has recently stayed in several places there.

N'sia tovah!

http://www.colonysuites.com/

 

[Pauline]

Wow, a question about Israel! I missed this thread, sorry.

We stayed at a wonderful small hotel in Mitzpe Ramon. I loved it. Not your typical hotel, a bit quirky, but just lovely.

In Jerusalem we twice stayed in Colony Suites apartments. I liked The Levant and have a review of it. But I thought the last one we stayed in, The Colony, had too much street noise (but it wasn't that bad). On our March stay we have booked a place through AirBnb. These people have several apartments.

Review of The Levant: https://www.sloweurope.com/communit...-bedroom-apartment-in-the-german-colony.3204/ (I noticed that you saw this review.)

AirBnb that we have booked for March: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/10872891

Hotel in Mitzpe: Desert Home

And in Ein Gedi we have twice stayed at the Ein Gedi Kibbutz Hotel and I really like it there. It is close to Masada as well.

Did you read my two trip reports?
https://www.sloweurope.com/community/threads/israel-november-2018.3845/
https://www.sloweurope.com/community/threads/two-weeks-in-israel.3106/

I am no expert on Israel. Those are the only trips we have done there. But we loved it and have two more trips booked for this year.

 

[stav]

Thank you both for the recommendations.

I tried booking the Colony suites based on Pauline's review last year, but they didn't have apartments for the required dates.

Thanks for the link to the airbnb apartment. It looks fantastic in the pictures, Hopefully the it looks as nice in reality. Will check it out.

Was thinking of booking the Ein Gedi hotel, but I've read some bad reviews about some of the rooms being dirty and very old. What was your experience ?

 

[Pauline]

Was thinking of booking the Ein Gedi hotel, but I've read some bad reviews about some of the rooms being dirty and very old. What was your experience ?

This was not my experience. We spent 2 nights there last March, and 2 nights again in November and plan to stay there again. The room was clean and the hotel grounds are very nice.

We booked one of the more expensive rooms with terraces that look at Wadi Arugot, but the other rooms look good too. The lobby area is nice. They have a dairy restaurant with lovely outdoor seating. Evening meals are a buffet in a big room a few minutes walk from the hotel and they are good. Breakfast buffet is served there too. The hotel sits at the end of the Kibbutz, on the edge of the canyon with views to Wadis David and Arugot. The Kibbutz itself is interesting to walk through with interesting plantings.

They have a spa in the hotel with a small pool of dead sea water. Plus sauna, etc.


Here are some photos:

View from our terrace.

Walkway along the edge of canyon.

Walking in the Kibbutz.

 

[Pauline]

Thanks for the link to the airbnb apartment. It looks fantastic in the pictures, Hopefully the it looks as nice in reality. Will check it out.

We stay there in March. I thought it looked nice and it is in a good area, close to the other apartments we rented. The apartment is on the 3rd floor (if I remember right) and there is no elevator.

 

[stav]

Thanks a lot Pauline
Do you remember what the type of room you booked was called ? It seems they have various types with a terrace.
Did you book directly with the hotel or through a booking website ?

 

[Pauline]

The second time I booked directly with the hotel on their website. I remember I had to phone them for some reason and they answered the phone with just "yes", not saying the hotel name, and were a bit terse. They don't go overboard with customer service in Israel.

I booked half-board, room, breakfast and dinner.

The first time I booked through booking.com and you could not book half-board, but we could pay at the hotel extra for dinner. I wasn't sure we would want to eat there both nights, but we did. The only other place to eat would be Ein Bokek and it is 20 mins drive. It was cheaper to book on their website and I didn't pay until we were checking out. I think they quote prices in USD.

We booked "deluxe room with balcony". Their room numbers are in the 500s. We had room 508 the last time, which has a great view, and 507 the time before. These were upper floor rooms.

I have a copy of their hotel layout and will take a photo of it and post it on the next post.

 

[Pauline]

20 in the lower left is the dining hall.
Our room was in that group before the dining hall.
The spa is 16, upper right.
Lobby is 1 in the lower center.

 

[stav]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share this very useful info. I very much appreciate it.

Good to know which room numbers to ask for, hopefully they take that into account when allocating rooms.