Ye'Arim Hotel

This hotel claims that they have a spa, with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, saunas etc. That's not accurate. The spa is independent of the hotel. While you can access the spa, the spa's employees look at hotel guests unkindly, as most of the spa's clients are people from the local villages nearby, who are loudly shouting in the hallway and showers. Whenever you need something in the spa, like shower gel, which they appear to not have in the showers there, they ask you "are you a hotel guest?" and when you say "yes" they laugh. There are simple lockers for your belongings but according to the spa manager, hotel guests can't borrow a lock, so you're supposed to bring one from home. The showers are in a rundown state; they look like the kind of showers you'd find in a youth hostel. Because the spa is operated by an external company, the guests are responsible to bring back used towels from the spa to the hotel. Also, in the evenings, the hotel guests need to vacate the spa at an earlier hour than the spa clients. The hotel claims that it has 24/7 reception, but the receptionists who work in the evening apparently weren't trained on everything. I wanted to pay when I checked in but they told me they don't know how to work the credit card charging, so I should come back in the morning. They also sometimes don't answer the reception phone number if you call from your room. In my room, the control panel for the AC was dangling off the wall and I had to fiddle with it until it turned on. It worked, but it's weak. I visited in January, and while the AC was able to slightly warm the room, the room was still chilly in the evening. I booked a deluxe double room and there was no padded chair in the room, even though there was plenty of space to put one. It's the first time I see a hotel where there isn't a padded chair in a deluxe double room.

The Hotel is in a beautiful setting high in the grounds of a Kibbutz. It's a large hotel but not high rise with quick lifts, ramps and slopes so no probs for wheelchairs. Lovely gardens and our room looking east had a stunning view of the modern panorama of Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel. My Hebrew is very limited but we were greeted by Mohammed on reception who reassuringly had great English. All the staff were really friendly. The room was clean, modern, had a safe, fridge (no minibar), complimentary water, chocolate and an excellent bottle of red wine. The bathroom had a large shower room and plenty of hot water !!. No mould !! Reading lights on both sides of the bed, good lighting throughout and a large flatscreen TV. It was hot when we arrived and cold in the night (as Jerusalem can be) so we were glad that the A/C was efficient at both cooling and warming at night. Very comfortable large double bed. I would have liked another pillow and bigger thicker towels. I'm sure if I had asked another pillow would have arrived. The towels were adequate, but I love big thick ones. We were given extra towel on arrival to use in the pool separately. We were booked B&B and were upgraded free to an evening meal. The dining room is large, clean but a little bit like a dining hall rather than restaurant. The food was buffet style and is "dairy". Due to the rules of providing Kosher food, many hotels may not serve meat or will have a separate area/restaurant for meat. The food was plentiful, tasty, hot and adequate but not Corden Bleu. Israeli breakfast is a feast and this was no exception. The view from the dining windows looking out towards the west and south west was fabulous. Plenty of free parking, free wifi, large conference facilities, coffee shop with plenty of choice. We didn't use the pool but it looked lovely too. To sum up, a very friendly & relaxing hotel. Particularly if you have car it's a great alternative to the bustle of the city centre hotels of Jerusalem. Happy to recommend it and would undoubtedly stay there again.

The people were very friendly. The accommodation clean and there were some nice presents to welcome us, such as chocolat, coffee, good wine. Very good and delicious breakfast. A little mistake was made and they offered us a compensation a free dinner! Nice gesture. Swimming pool open until 22 o'clock, perfect time! Stunning views and walks in the environment.