The good thing about this hotel is that it's just a couple of minutes walk from Damascus Gate (one of the entrances to the old city, and good for public transport). The bad thing is that the hotel is way overpriced. It's small, but hardly "boutique". Rooms are gloomy, and full of fake old furniture. You can barely see out of the windows. The bathroom was tiny and worthy of something 1/3 of the price; so was the breakfast (carton juice, hard-boiled eggs only, flavourless jam). There's cable TV but most channels were pay-per-view. We wish we'd had stayed at a proper hotel such as the Ambassador, or saved some cash and stayed at the YMCA 3 Arches.

The hotel was conveniently located within a short walking distance from the garden tomb and the Damascus Gate. The charming antique Mediterranean décor generated a unique ‘stepped back in time’ cultural experience. This is a small boutique hotel with character. The staff at the restaurant and front desk were friendly and helpful.
Whilst our experience at the hotel was great it is unfortunate that they associate themselves with the tour company, ‘Alternative Tours and Transportation’, who were absolutely awful.
The hotel arranged a private tour to “Nazareth – Tiberias – Sea of Galilee” on our behalf (the reason for the private tour was that the tour company was not offering this as a group tour for the dates we were in Jerusalem). We were met in reception by a man who with a flick of his wrist indicated we should follow him (he was talking on his mobile so we did not even get a hello out of him). We followed him to a van and took a seat. He commenced driving (still without any greeting as he was still on his mobile). About 10 minutes into the drive he finished his phone conversation and since he still did not make any attempt to speak with us I approached him and asked what was happening. He informed us he was our driver (still no introduction) for the day. We were a little shocked as given his unprofessional and unfriendly demeanour we assumed he was just picking us up to take us to the real ‘tour operator’. We advised that we didn’t book a driver we booked a private tour (we could have just arranged a taxi if this was the case – which we had the previous day and it turned out much cheaper and the driver was friendly and knowledgeable –what you would expect). He advised he was just a driver and couldn’t explain anything as he had no knowledge and we could read the free brochures provided at the sites. He then continued with “if you’re not happy I’ll drop you back to the hotel”. We were a little shell shocked, my partner was adamant that we should just go back to the hotel as given the initial experience the day was not going to get any better. I on the other hand, really upset at the thought of not visiting these sites prior to leaving Israel (we were leaving the next day) went against my better judgement and continued with the trip. It was, as expected, a big mistake and has left a very bad taste in our mouths of our experience in Jerusalem, Israel. By the end of the tour the driver had still not introduced himself or provided any insightful information on sights or his country. In fact, when we returned to the hotel I advised that I would like to speak to Management prior to making payment. He then started getting verbally and physically aggressive. He was calling us ‘idiots’ (which in fairness we obviously were for continuing on the trip) and whilst he did not touch me, he was physically threatening by flailing his arms around and getting right up in my face screaming and pointing at me. The hotel staff had to interject and hold him back – unbelievable! We remained calm and requested the hotel to call the tour management so we could express our disappointment in what I felt was in effect fraud, at a minimum false advertising. They sold me a private tour (which we paid good money for) and gave us a driver who was rude, unprofessional and completely unknowledgeable about any of the areas/sites we were visiting. The Manager of the tour company was not willing to offer any concessions and advised he would talk to the driver. We kept our word and paid the full amount – a shame the Manager did not feel he needed to keep his word. The grievances I highlighted to the Tour Company and hotel are as follows:
1. The service should not be advertised as a ‘tour’ or ‘private tour’. We should have been informed upfront that it was just transportation.
2. Staff/Drivers should always exhibit a friendly and professional demeanour. At a minimum I would expect a driver to introduce themselves at the start of the trip. At any point of the trip would have been helpful in this instance… how could someone who is so rude and unprofessional be representing the travel industry for his country??
After complaining to the hotel staff (who were actually present through the interchange and very understanding and helpful) we were advised that the hotel had received numerous complaints from hotel guests in the past and the hotel management continues to support them as they have a commercial deal whereby the tour company transport hotel staff home at the end of their late shifts for free. If only we had known this before being subjected to the terrible day with this tour company. This is disturbing that such a terrible tour company would be recommended to guests for the hotels own gain, especially when complaints had been made previously. We also asked to speak to the hotel management to share our experiences as he was not arriving until later and he did not bother to meet with us.
I would recommend the hotel, but stay away from ‘Alternative Tours and Transportation’.

We were pleasantly surprised by the vintage Palestinian decorations, the stone walled rooms and public areas, the balcony and vine-covered restaurant where the free breakfast may be taken. This hotel is half a block from the Garden Tomb, and two blocks from Damascus Gate. It was very convenient to the terminal for the shared bus from King Hussein/Allenby Bridge to Jordan, and to the terminal for shared bus to Bethlehem. This is obviously East Jerusalem -- part of the West Bank -- but is completely safe and affords a good feeling for Palestine. It is also a short walk to Jaffa Gate and Jaffa Street and its restaurants. It is close to very good Palestinian restaurants.

Service staff could not find our reservation as it had been listed under the agency making the reservation and they did not seem to realize that the names needed to be searched for, not the agency. That left us in considerable doubt for quite a few hours. Were we going to be sleeping at the attractive Hotel Jerusalem or not (yes was finally the answer)?
No woman available at check-in to help carry bags upstairs; perhaps others have noted that this does not seem to be a job for Arab men.
Rooms were attractively furnished for the most part; then you'd be disappointed later on by finding dust bunnies on the floor and earwigs enjoying the habitat-- or you'd look straight up and see an ancient electric light fixture, with ceiling hole and wires clearly visible and ugly.
The hotel had a very nice garden restaurant which served excellent food and a yummy mint lemonade that would slake anyone's thirst.