As pandemic leaves a vacuum, Jerusalem hotels offer a getaway without the crowds
With Omicron still raging, it could be just the time to check out local accommodations
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Sometimes the best getaways are just a short drive from home.
With some celebratory events to attend on a cold January weekend, my husband, two sons and I checked into a local hotel, rather than walking back and forth from our Jerusalem neighborhood (we don’t drive on Shabbat).
My beat includes writing about vacation spots and hotels, and comes with the occasional comped visit. This time, given the way the Omicron-fueled pandemic has continued to decimate local tourism, we scored a family room at the David Citadel Hotel. (See some more budget-minded options at the bottom.)
It was a definite upgrade for our weekend. The hotel, like many large, upscale hotels in Jerusalem, was fairly empty, with just a few other families milling around the lobby and at breakfast.
That’s how it’s been for much of the winter, said Katerina Brokhes, vice president of sales and marketing at David Citadel and its sister hotel, Mamilla.
There are benefits to being one of the few guests at a luxury hotel during a pandemic.
The heated outdoor pool was open and mostly empty. One can swim through a passage from the locker rooms to outside without having to emerge from the water into the cold air.
Guests even swam during the recent Jerusalem snowstorm and got cozy with the hotel’s special soup menu and hot chocolate served in the lobby, said Brokhes. Occupancy tripled during a 24-hour period.
A low occupancy rate during our weekend meant there was plenty of space in the brand-new playroom on a lower floor of the hotel, designed by the award-winning Sarit Shani Hay Studio and offering hours of staff-supervised fun for kids of all ages, even for 13-year-old twins.
This is a veritable kid-cave, albeit a chic one: 100 square meters of blond wood panels and plenty of ping-pong tables, dart boards, foosball and pool tables, a small grassy soccer field, cozy booths and corners for reading, drawing or playing board games, and even a gymnastics corner with punching bag and rings.
Hay’s interior design is clever, with Jerusalem landmarks incorporated into several elements, such as the play fruit and vegetable market mimicking Mahane Yehuda, as well as a full miniature kitchen, living room and dollhouse, and when it’s not Shabbat there’s a TV and a long row of X-Box consoles available for use.
The playroom has limited hours but hotel staff will open it at other times if there’s enough demand, said Brokhes.
Guests can avail themselves of tickets to local attractions, walking tours and jeep rides. For guests staying two nights, there’s a chocolate workshop in the kitchen, or a wine tasting, or a movie with popcorn. They can also walk across the street to the sister Mamilla Hotel, which has a glamorous, deep-blue tiled indoor pool and cultural programs throughout the week.
“We can’t use their pool in August, but right now, that can work,” said Brokhes.
The four of us improvised our own walking tour on Shabbat morning in and around Rehavia, one of Jerusalem’s earliest neighborhoods, built in 1922.
A stroll down Agron Street brought us to Independence Park — a popular hangout on Saturday mornings for dogwalkers, tai chi practitioners and those seeking a cup of coffee from a cafe on the park grounds that’s open on Shabbat.
We wound our way through the park toward King George Street, passing the two-winged structure of the Jewish Agency and heading down Keren Kayemeth Street, the main drag of this historic area.
One of the country’s first high schools, Rehavia Gymnasia, is situated on Keren Kayemeth, modeled after Tel Aviv’s famed Gymnasia school and still operating. A peek into 8 Keren Kayemeth offers a glimpse at the Art Deco-ish fountain at the center of the courtyard of this former workers’ apartment complex.
We also detoured over to 10 Alfasi Street to see a burial tomb from Hasmonean times with an epitaph to a Jason, who according to local legend was either a high priest in the Second Temple period or a naval commander.
Back at the hotel before checking out after Shabbat (a late checkout is de rigueur in most Jerusalem hotels for Sabbath observers), we hung out in the playroom and in our Superior Family New City Room, which was a comfortable fit for a family of four.
It has a queen-size bed and spacious closet nook on one side of the room, divided from the open-up couch and cot by a bookcase/TV stand. An arched window spans nearly an entire wall.
The bathroom is what really sets the room apart, with marble-lined walls, sink and counter, a hot, strong spray in the shower and a deep, comfortable bathtub, with plush towels and richly scented Bulgari bath products.
With prices starting at NIS 1,650 for room and breakfast mid-week, and starting at NIS 1,870 on weekends, the David Citadel is a steeply priced treat.
There are other options in the area.
The best bang for one’s shekel is a family room at the Agron Youth Hostel, which offers a great location at the intersection of Agron and King George, with rooms that can sleep six and cost NIS 670 with breakfast or NIS 569 for just sleeping. Dinner and lunch is also available, and the food is decent and plentiful.
Prices at the nearby Eldan on King David Street start at NIS 900, and one child can be added to some rooms, although two kids would necessitate a second room.
TRYP by Wyndham Jerusalem Bat Sheva on King George Street would have been an even closer walk to our weekend activities; rooms run NIS 711, and only one child can be added.
