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Hotel Montefiore, Tel Aviv - review

A stylish bedroom at Hotel Montefiore
A stylish bedroom at Hotel Montefiore

Located on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean, trendy Tel Aviv is the coolest beach-break city around. Choose from 16 beautiful beaches, where you can swim, surf, paddleboard or just chill out with a beer. Head into town and take your pick of sophisticated shops, bustling markets, museums and galleries.

The White City sparkles into life at night. Restaurants and bars spill out onto the streets, and packed clubs rock and roll until the early hours of the morning.

Here's everything you need to know about staying at one of the city's best addresses, Hotel Montefiore.

Where is it?

Just off Rothschild Boulevard, in the Lev Halr district - the ‘heart of the city’- the Hotel Montefiore oozes elegance and charm. It’s a classic Bauhaus building, built in 1922, and this Art Deco theme runs throughout. Stroll around the neighbourhood and find the hottest restaurants and bars just minutes from your door. It’s only a short walk to the beach. Just follow Rothschild Boulevard, heading west, until you hit the Jaffa-Tel Aviv promenade.

Hotel Montefiore's photogenic exterior
Hotel Montefiore's photogenic exterior

Style

It’s effortlessly elegant, with dark wood floors, whitewashed walls, and slick furnishings throughout. Every corner has vintage vases brimming with fresh flowers, and shady palms cast shadows across huge bay windows.

Which room

There are 12 immaculate rooms, spread over two floors, all with the same sophisticated sense of style. Each has huge beds with crisp white linen, stunning furniture, dark wood floors, bright white walls and floor to ceiling curtains. A smart library forms the backdrop to each room, with around four hundred books beautifully rainbow-revised on the shelves. Decedent black marble bathrooms are filled with Tom Ford style home-accessories, enormous rain showers, fluffy robes and cool toiletries. With high ceilings and massive windows, the rooms feel bright and breezy, and wonderfully relaxing.

Food & drink

The hotel restaurant is one of the best in town. It’s packed with the cool kids from breakfast (included in the room price), through to lunch and dinner. Choose from various eggy dishes, fruit salads, sweet pastries and granola.

Dinner is served
Dinner is served

Lunch and dinner are a slick operation. The menu changes daily, fusing French cuisine with clean Asian flavours. If you fancy tucking in, make sure to get a table reserved as it gets busy. The centrepiece of the restaurant is the bar - like the rest of the Montefiore, it's slick and sexy, and does a sensational vodka martini.

Facilities

Facilities at the hotel are limited, but guests can use Space gym around the corner, which is decked out with all the machines you’ll need, as well as pilates and yoga studios. There is no spa, but you can order a Swedish or deep tissue massage to your room for a little relaxation. The Montefiore Hotel is all about detail. You don’t come for the huge pool, spa and huge choice of restaurants. No. It’s all about the cool rooms and slick service.

A quiet corner at Hotel Montefiore
A quiet corner at Hotel Montefiore

Extra curricular

Packed with bars and restaurants, you are spoilt for choice in Tel Aviv - highlights include Port Said, Market Kitchen and Santa Katerina. Don't miss a stroll around Carmel Market where you can take your pick of vibrant food stalls and little restaurants. The city is all about sun and sea, so why not spend the day at the beach. Banana Beach is always popular and if you want more of a party vibe, walk down the promenade to Blue Beach, where there are plenty of lively bars to chose from.

The Friday flea market in Jaffa is a great place to wander and soak up the city. In the evening, the little streets are lined with cool restaurants and bars. Beit Kandinof is a new space just off the market, with a little restaurant serving modern Israeli food, galleries and shops.

Best for

City slickers, sophisticated beach bums and party animals looking for a beautiful bolt hole for a lively weekend away.

When to go

Tel Aviv is blessed with wonderful weather most of the year. Summer is very hot and sweaty, so the best time to go is March through to June and then September right up until the end of October.

By the way

The weekend in Israel is Friday and Saturday, so plan your trip around this. Thursday and Friday are the big nights out. and on Saturdays, the shops and markets in Tel Aviv are closed, and restaurants and bars start to open around mid-morning.

Details

Rooms at the Montefiore costs £330 per night, including breakfast; hotelmontefiore.co.il

British Airways fly daily from Heathrow, from £300 return.

John Gregory-Smith is a chef, cookbook author and food and travel writer. Follow him on Twitter @mightyspice and Instagram @johngs