magiciansampras

I tried doing a search but came up with a limited list of places, particularly for Galilee. It seems like Jerusalem the King David comes up quite a bit. We would like to be close to the old town but not spend an outrageous sum (maybe ~$300-400 a night).

Galilee I can't find much by way of luxury.

Any thoughts?

Raffles

A stable?

JayMatt19

Jerusalem: David Citadel Hotel, Inbal Hotel.

As for the Galilee, I can only speak about the Sheraton in Tiberias (which was nice), but check out trip advisor for a better feel.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

Good Luck

ABG

Second vote for David Citadel... next door to King David and close to Jaffa Gate

listener

I spent a week in jerusalem in march, the king david, moved to the american colony for the second half, i much prefered the colony, the king david was very impersonal, but still professional, I think the king david suites jewish taste more, and the colony gentile taste.

RichardInSF

I'm curious as to what you feel is the difference between Jewish and non-Jewish tastes, will make it easier to judge the differences. Thanks.

JohnnyUMF

Personally, I'd go with David Citadel over KD, newer, nicer basic rooms. I think you might, depending on when you go, have quite a difficult time finding rooms for 300-400. As far as in the North, I stay with friends but I would suggest looking at some country lodgings or kibbutz instead of any of the hotels in Galilee, they are old and run down from what I've seen.

stevenshev

I hear both KD and David Citadel. I prefer the KD, strongly. That having been said, it really is a matter of personal taste.

baccarat_king

We had a very good 5 night experience @ the Inbal Hotel.

We had a 2 bedroom Penthouse Suite, and the views and hugh terrace (where we dined a few times) was awesome. In addition, all of the suites have been recently renovated. I know the KD has equivalent types of suites, but, IIRC, they were 2x to 3x the price.

The amazing terrace, and the lunch service they setup for us with very little notice :



All of our special requests (and I'm a bit of a pain) were seamlessly coordinated via email before our arrival. [Yeah, I know, I'm a bit obsessed with glassware, especially making sure there are more than enough Champagne flutes on hand... you just never know who might stop by]

They recently opened an executive lounge for the executive room and suite guests.

Seems, they are trying to really compete for more corporate and David Citadel business.

magiciansampras

Wow, great pick! That looks very nice.

You guys have given me some ideas to look into. Thanks a lot for the help!

robyng

I think listener didn't exactly use the best possible words to express what he was trying to say. When we were in Jerusalem (many years ago) - all of the Jewish Federation groups stayed at the King David (in the "Jewish" part of Jerusalem). So reservations for individual travelers like us were impossible. We wound up staying at what I believe was then an Intercontinental in the Mount of Olives area - which was an "Arab" part of Jerusalem (and the hotel was - according to Jewish law - built in a place it ought not to have been built - a ancient cemetery area if I recall correctly). I am not aware of a specifically Christian part of Jerusalem (at least not a large one) - except for places like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - which was divided up among orthodox Christian groups many years before Protestants existed. Don't think it takes reservations either .

I am sure that things have changed over the years. But I am equally sure that some parts of Jerusalem are still "Jewish" - while others are "Arab".

I really don't think it makes a dime's worth of difference where you stay though - as long as you find a hotel to your liking. I am Jewish. My husband is Christian. And we had an Arab guide during our stay in the city. Who took us to see everything of importance for all 3 religions. That is really the most important thing to get out of a trip to Jerusalem. Why it is important to 3 of the world's major religions - and - therefore - why - unfortunately - there is so much fighting over it. Robyn

baccarat_king

FWIW, from what I can recall (and I love hotel trivia) The American Colony is the only hotel in Israel which is not required to have Kosher kitchens. I "think" it was grandfathered in, as I'm pretty certain all Israeli hotels are now required to be Kosher. (of course, if I'm incorrect, I'm certain someone will correct me )

Other than location, and potentially some of it's history; I don't think that I would particularly say the American Colony is not suited to Jewish taste. Though, I'm not really certain what "Jewish taste" is, and I'm Jewish.

apirchik

I see that this thread went mainly to the Jerusalem questions so here are some great hotels in the Galilee:
The Scots Hotel in Tiberias - Another non-kosher hotel and quite a good one.
Mitzpe Hayamim - A Relais and Chateau property - one of the top spa hotels in Israel.
Amirei Hagalil - Great boutique hotel with great views next to a vegetarian village.
Ruth Rimonim is Safed - Great hotel in the picture city of Safed.

Basically, the difference between a kosher hotel and a non-kosher hotel will be that they will serve dairy and non-dairy dishes together in the non-kosher. You will never get a steak with butter sauce in a kosher place. One major difference is that you will get a freshly cooked meal on a Friday evening and Saturday morning in the non-kosher hotels while in the kosher ones they are not allowed to cook on Shabbat and all is pre-cooked and heated on warm plates.

Kagehitokiri

great post apirchik, especially re R&C property ^

robyng

Agreed that one will never get a steak with butter sauce at a kosher restaurant. (Or a rare steak with blood running out of it either for that matter.) But it is possible to get a meal that is freshly cooked. There are all kinds of appliances these days (even ordinary kitchen appliances sold in the US) where the cooking can be set on "auto-pilot" before the sabbath. I suspect such appliances exist in Israel too.

Nevertheless - I think one nice thing about traveling is enjoying local cuisine (assuming it's not hazardous to your health). Whether it is kosher - or halal - or buddhist vegetarian - or whatever - why not give it a go? If you want to eat everything you eat at home - stay home!

Note that my FIL - not Jewish - spent 2 1/2 years at the end of his life at a strictly kosher skilled nursing facility here in Jacksonville FL. The foods he missed most were those he couldn't eat due to medical problems (he had congestive heart failure - and was fluid restricted - salt restricted - etc.). On average - what the non-kosher residents of this facility missed most was cream in their coffee (if they were used to cream in their coffee). My FIL also missed his 2 slices of (allowed) bacon a week - so we took him out for breakfast once a week to eat breakfast with bacon. But we're talking about long term care here. I think most travelers can and should enjoy and explore anything and everything for at least a couple of weeks. Robyn