GLBT Travelers - TLV Pride

Anyone else going?

I was there and had the most AMAZING pride I've ever experienced! If you have room on your schedule next year, book it!

I can second that. Was a great time.

We are thinking about getting to TLV for Pride next summer.

Any tips/feedback from this year? (Where to stay/side trips/etc?)

The Hilton is the best place to stay probably, as the gay beach is right in front of it. But the Hilton is very expensive, and the Crowne Plaza was wonderful and a five minute walk to the gay beach. The whole city is actually very walkable, and the Intercontinental, Sheraton, Park Plaza, and Mercure are all great options as well.
I'll be blogging about hotel stays over the next few days/weeks when the post-vacation work onslaught ceases.
Side trips depend on your interests. I think regardless of your religion/spirituality, Jerusalem is always worth a day. Eilat is a flight, Dead Sea/Masada a long bus ride. Depends on how long your total stay is.

Sigh. I REALLY want to go, but I can't until December.

The Hilton is the best place to stay probably, as the gay beach is right in front of it. [. . .] Side trips depend on your interests. I think regardless of your religion/spirituality, Jerusalem is always worth a day. Eilat is a flight, Dead Sea/Masada a long bus ride. Depends on how long your total stay is.

I also went to Tel Aviv for pride this year and had a ball. Highly recommended. As for where to stay, ignore the big chains above and stay instead at either the Melody or Shalom. Both are across the street from the Hilton, and therefore the gay beach, and both are high quality, friendly, and relatively inexpensive boutiques. (I didn't stay at the Shalom, but I understand it's owned and run by the same company; I passed it every day, and it looks nice.) The Melody had a huge and complimentary breakfast spread, free wifi, free wine and cheese in the afternoon, and a beautiful roof deck. Of course, you get the drawbacks of a small boutique -- smallish rooms, no fitness center, etc. -- but the staff, location, price and other amenities made up for it, IMHO.

Also, I took a day trip on the last day to Jerusalem, where I've been before and where everyone should go at least once in their life, regardless of religious affiliation (I'm an atheist, for the record). I also took the 30 minute bus trip down to Bethlehem, which was also quite wonderful (though I had a small problem at the checkpoint coming back into Israel, since the good immigration people at Ben-Gurion didn't stamp my passport -- and I didn't ask them not to!).

Anyway, all in all, I'm planning to go back to Tel Aviv for pride next year.

I also went to Tel Aviv for pride this year and had a ball. Highly recommended. As for where to stay, ignore the big chains above and stay instead at either the Melody or Shalom. Both are across the street from the Hilton, and therefore the gay beach, and both are high quality, friendly, and relatively inexpensive boutiques. (I didn't stay at the Shalom, but I understand it's owned and run by the same company; I passed it every day, and it looks nice.) The Melody had a huge and complimentary breakfast spread, free wifi, free wine and cheese in the afternoon, and a beautiful roof deck. Of course, you get the drawbacks of a small boutique -- smallish rooms, no fitness center, etc. -- but the staff, location, price and other amenities made up for it, IMHO.

Also, I took a day trip on the last day to Jerusalem, where I've been before and where everyone should go at least once in their life, regardless of religious affiliation (I'm an atheist, for the record). I also took the 30 minute bus trip down to Bethlehem, which was also quite wonderful (though I had a small problem at the checkpoint coming back into Israel, since the good immigration people at Ben-Gurion didn't stamp my passport -- and I didn't ask them not to!).

Anyway, all in all, I'm planning to go back to Tel Aviv for pride next year.
Agree - I much prefer the Melody over the larger and less-personal Hilton. I would also recommend paying for one of the larger rooms. Overall, though, an excellent property and a great location. We stayed there for Pride last year.

In Jerusalem, their sister hotel, The Harmony, is equally as good and well-located.

Anyone planning on going to TLV for pride 2013? Any interest in a meetup?

Anyone planning on going to TLV for pride 2013? Any interest in a meetup?

What are the dates? Is there an organized group already?

I've been thinking about organizing just a group of about 10-12 friends and going. We did that in 2008 (14 people) and had a terrific time.