We stayed at Le Meridien David (the old Hyatt) at the Dead Sea this past weekend. We stayed on points (2000 for Thursday night and 3000 for Friday night). Checkout at most Israeli hotels on Saturday is after the end of Shabbat so 7-9PM.

The room was ok. Had a nice view of the Dead Sea which I think all rooms have. The mattress has seen firmer days and the carpet had a large iron imprint in it but all in all it was ok. The television was a bit small, I think maybe a 17" screen or 22" max.

The service was not great. They only replaced towels, restocked the soap and made the bed. They never replaced used glasses or coffee mugs with clean ones. We called and asked for clean coffee mugs and they brought water glasses. We tried to get clean mugs from the cart being used to service the rooms but they didn't have any. We drank our coffee in the glasses. The next day we called and asked for more instant coffee, as that was also no replenished, and clean mugs. We got the coffee and one mug.

The minibar was empty which was great since it meant we could head to the minimarket and stock up on food and drink. This came in handy as the breakfast situation was a bit odd. The room service menu said Continental Breakfast for NIS 34, Israeli Breakfast (2 eggs, salad, bread) for NIS 52. The breakfast buffet in the restaurant was priced at NIS 75. We figured we'd get one Continental and one Israeli and we'd be happy as clams. Upon calling room service we were told that the Continental was indeed NIS 34 but the Israeli would cost us NIS 75 + NIS 52. Why is this? Well the Israeli consists of things coming from the Buffet so they need to charge us for the Buffet and then charge us for the Room service version on top of that. We passed and just went for the Buffet one morning and cornflakes the other morning. The Buffet had delicious fish and cheeses and breads. It also had really bad powdered scrambled eggs and whatnot.

I don't want it to sound like it was all bad. It was pretty much as we expected it to be. We weren't there for the service so much as for the pools and spa and just relaxation. The main swimming pool was very nice. There were plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas and the water was really divine. The poolside restaurant was typically priced. Friday afternoon we got really good schnitzel (breaded chicken nuggets) and a passable hamburger, both with fries and a can of soda, for NIS 35 each. On Saturday we got cholent with three mini cobs of corn, rice and a can of soda for NIS 49. The portions of all of the above were huge hence the second day we grabbed just one meal.

My wife went to the spa for a mud wrap and a crystal oil massage. She came away happy enough although the masseur's Hebrew wasn't all that good. Each time she asked him to explain something he said he got kind of defensive and repeated the same thing a bit more forcefully. That said she wasn't really there for an educational experience but for the treatment. The treatment was about NIS240 with the 20% discount for getting it in the morning. Entrance for me to the spa was NIS35. The spa has a nice looking gym, sauna, steam room, 2 jacuzzis and two rather large pools filled with Dead Sea water. The oily, salty Dead Sea water isn't realllly my cup of tea but when in Rome... There was also plenty of tea available at the spa and water with ice was available at the pool, the spa, the lobby, all over the place.

We also went to the Dead Sea itself. It was about a 10 minute walk but there was also a van every 20 minutes though we didn't notice it.

The key card came with an insert stating that we could get all sorts of 15% off discounts at their sister hotel the Golden Tulip (both owned by the Fattael chain). We walked about 40 minutes Friday night figuring we'd grab a bite at their Irish Pub or go bowling. When we arrived we found that the whole hotel had been rented out by an ultra-orthodox Jewish group and so was closed to the general public. Would have been nice if they had a sign at Le Meridien since they did have this discount advertised but chances are we'd not have noticed. In fact had we asked at the front desk I'd bet they wouldn't have known what was going on at the other hotel. Next time we'll call ahead.

All in all it was an enjoyable time and a typical mid-range Israeli hotel experience. We'll likely burn some more SPG points there in October with the kids. I think that it is typical of the hotels in that area and it is probably at the high end of the middle range of hotels there. It appears that some of the hotels (Golden Tulip, Caeser, Crowne Plaza) have upgraded themselves and are trying to pitch themselves as a higher end option in the area. We weren't inside of them so can't give a true assessment.