Hi, sorry if this is OT, and mods please move if you feel appropriate, I just thought I’d get the best answers in the LY forum:

Can anyone help me with recommendations for 4.5/5* hotels in Eilat appropriate for a family with small kids? We’ve enjoyed Waldorf-Astoria and Ritz Carlton resorts in the Caribbean, and ideally would be looking for the same type of property in Eilat, with both a great spa for the adults and pools/beach appropriate for kids. I’m very familiar with hotels in Israel generally, so my expectations are not “too” high, but I’m hoping to find a legitimate 4.5/5* property (as opposed to a property which had a claim to being 4.5/5* when it was built in ~1993, but lack of maintenance since would make it come across as 2.5/3* today, sadly all too common in Israel). What’s new or has been newly renovated, and is run well? Does this exist? Not too confident based on this thread.

I have mid-level status with SPG, so if the Le Meridien is a contender anyways I would lean in that direction, but not if there are clearly better choices.

Thanks so much for the help!

The Dan is great (not the Dan panorama)
Le meridian is not bad.
Whatever you do stay away from the Hilton.

I would choose the Herods Palace.
Stay away from the Meridian, planes would land right over your head at 6.00 am... and the beach in this part of the city is not the best
The Hilton is very noisy, so avoid it, too...

Here's a second vote for Herods for a hotel with kids. The other thread is correct, though. It's hard to find luxury in Eilat, if that's what you're after.

Thanks

+1

I have been to many Eilat properties, including the Hilton, Herods Palace, and many Isrotels.
If you would like an hotel nearby the beach and the promenade I would go for the Herods. However my family and I prefer Isrotel Agamim (especially the rooms with the direct access to the pool). But we don't like Eilat, and especially its beach and promenade, so that may be why we prefer the Isrotel. If it's your first time in Eilat, I would defiantly go for the Herods.

Secondly - Last time in Eilat I stayed at Herod's. The place is a sad excuse for a hotel. The balcony was filty with pigeon droppings that the staff never bothered to clean and did not respond to my alert to do so. The food was OK, except Saturday - when it was simply terrible.

Most Israeli hotels have sub-par food on Saturday because it's the sabbath, which places some restrictions on what they are able to prepare.

Yet they still charge premium fair for the crap served - which by itself is a perfect reason never to stay in an Israeli hotel, unless one absolutely has to.

Aqaba. 1 hour to cross the border, 20 minutes by taxi and you have superb hotels, classic service, excellent food, all for about half of Elat's prices.

For a family, consider the family apartments at the Radisson Blu Tala Bay. Two huge connected rooms, overlooking the bay, five swimming pools, excellent food, and much quieter that you'd expect. We paid $300 per apartment per night (four people), full board, a few weeks ago, and had a great time.

Shuly

Or (sort of) ditto over the other border. Taba gets quite a crowd of weekend Israeli fun seekers (there are casinos!). Top hotels at very atttractive rates.

planning on Eilat next weekend,

i have 3 options in mind

1.Herods palace
2.Royal beach
3. Dan

My first option was RoyalBeach, mainly because Dan design seems so old fasion and the rooms in the herods look kitchy

what do people here think? what should i choose?

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Dan is by far my favourite Eilat hotel (and I'm no fan of Eilat in General).

Nice pools, and probably the best food you'll find in any hotel in Israel (breakfast buffet is fantastic - think Vegas style without the meat if course...).
Large rooms as well, and if you can get a club floor level, nice lounge.

Design wise well you can love or hate the Flintstones style, but it's designed that way purposely.

I woud travel into Aqaba if I were you. There is really not much to do or see in Eilat... However, the Orchid is a good choice if you are looking for a family friendly hotel. I stayed there one night before doing some diving off the cost of Egypt. It is a very clean hotel with a good beach area and it is not all that crowded. It has a very nice beach bar too. (Good good too) There are not really any upscale hotels or anything upscale about Eilat, at least none that I could find!