i stayed in this hotel for 5 days and i was really upset on the first day , first, it smells like a chimney, 2nd, they said the airconditioning is for heating only it was quite hot if you're used to london weather , 3rd, the carpets no matter how you will clean it...it really needs to be replaced due to old cigarette burns..the pillow smells like an old cabinet.. i did comlaints and asked to be moved in another room and they said there's only one rrom available which is much horrible than the other one.

so, i said i want to cancel the rest of the days and was told to sort it out with the agency i booked it with...i dnt really know if this is just a coincidence since i just booked this 5 days before my holiday took place ..sadly i have to settle with this hotel due to exhausting day i had and the next day i am booked for another early tour to masada.

the next day was not too bad anymore since i noticed they let the cooling of the room worked!! (so there is one...) the smell of chimney faded a bit... ( or probably we got used to it already)..

it is next to jaffa road , and its a downtown hotel so you can hear a bit of noise from the outside..i had a really bad 1st night i wasnt able to sleep due to this. but for a positive point, youre near to every shop and bars in jerusalem if you want to stay here. jaffa gate going to the old city is about 10 to 15 min. walk.

breakfast is in buffet style and they dont run out of anything..kosher meal of course...but everything taste very good..
i was planning to post a photo but it the looks it doesnt really excite me so i didnt bother to get a photograph..
the staff are helpful and some really speaks good english.esp. the guy in the reception who really helped us call a cab in the last minute( the cab we originally booked didnt turned up).so thank you for that.

taxi drivers usually makes arrangement on how much youre going to pay and they always settle for 250 shekels from ben gurion airport to here and vise versa...the real price when meter is plugged down is about 218 to 220 shekels .( i travelled at the end week of october to 1st week of november 2008)

well, i hope this will help you..decide...
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I am a journalist who stayed in this hotel while covering the Israeli Disengagement from Gaza. Though the hotel was starting to undergo renovations while I was there, nevertheless I found the staff courteous, helpful, the rooms clean and quiet and the price was very reasonable.

The location of the hotel, and it's towering height, made it perfect for my stay in Jerusalem. From my window on the 10th floor I had a commanding view of the downtown of the city, above the noise and fray of the street. Unfortunately, the spa was being renovated at the time, so it was closed, but it includes a sauna, swimming pool, gym and jaccuzi.

Phone service was not up to modern standard, but the apologetic desk clerk was very helpful and did whatever was required for my demands for data services, allowing me to use their office computers for internet access. I was assured that the hotel was being refitted with modern telecommunications, expected to be in place in early 2006.

Over all, I would highly recommend this hotel, especially if one is on a budget or needs to be in the center of the city.

The hotel is modestly priced and in a great location. My only problem with the hotel is that our room had no window, it was in interior room that was attached to another room that had a window. It was sort of a two bedroom suite, sleeps four, two in each room. There was a group of four of us, so it is not as though none of us had a window, just two of us. I stayed there for two weeks while working on an archaeological project.

On the plus side, the entire hotel is super clean, but the decor is 1970s socialist. It very much reminds me of 1970s era hotels that you would find in Eastern Europe. The hotel lobby is on the 7th floor (If I remember), the first floor is a parking deck and the lower floors are offices or apartments...I don't remember exactly. The hotel is very security oriented, very safe. We had many meals in the hotel dining room. The dining service is also very socialist, no menu to choose from--you were served the dish of the day, you were given a set time for dinner and every seat in the restaurant was filled for that seating, so--service was efficent, but impersonal and if you miss your seating time, no dinner.

You could not ask for a better location, right on Ben Yehuda street--a main shopping/restaurant district. A short walk to Jaffa Gate (To visit the old city/Western Wall/Christian sights) and only a short walk to the Russian Compound, the city's nightclub and bar district.

This is a high tower in the middle of the downtown shopping/restaurant district. Compared to the smaller hotels and inns downtown, the huge advantage of this hotel is the building's height. There is an enormous amount of noise from the pedestrian area round the clock, and in the early morning there can be racket from cars and trucks as well. If you are high enough up in this place (be sure to ask) you will be immune to it. Relative to other modern hotels (Jerusalem Tower, Dan), this one was much cheaper -- about $60, including breakfast, when I stayed there. The difference in price does reflect the fact that this place is nothing fancy. Service at the front desk is very minimal, and a few people manning the reception could speak very little of anything but Hebrew. The rooms are clean and modern, but lots of the public areas are a bit shabby. The elevator has advertisements for a top-floor restaurant and fitness center that seemed to have been defunct for some time. When taking a cab or sherut here, be sure to distinguish this place from the nearby (far inferio) Zion Hotel and the not-so-nearby Mt. Zion Hotel.