This is a good hotel for the budget-minded. At $75 a night (breakfast included) it's a pretty good deal, probably equivalent to a 2-star hotel. The rooms are small, the breakfast buffet not as comprehensive as in other Israeli hotels. But the rooms are clean and the hotel is well-maintained. It sits on top of Mt. Carmel with a great view of Haifa and the harbor, and it's within walking distance of many fine restaurants, some decent shopping in the Mt. Carmel commercial area, and the famous Bahai Gardens. The streets around the hotel are bit confusing so if you drive there, be prepared to go around in circles to find the hotel. Parking can be hard to find during the day on weekdays because the hotel does not have its own lot. Although you have to climb two flights of steps to get to the hotel entrance, it's not a problem if you're reasonably mobile. If your luggage is heavy, you may need two people to carry it up the steps -- that's really the only drawback.

The only negative I have say about this hotel is the street noise can be aggravating; especially with the Israeli's fondness of the automobile horn. This unfortunately impacts primarily the rooms with a view.

HEALTHFUL STAIRS - Yes, there are two sets of stairs before reaching the front doors! But we expected that and were traveling very light, having a single carry-on bag that we managed ourselves without porters or luggage carts. We were prepared to both walk the hills of mount carmel and the entire length of the terraces anyway! There is an elevator about four by six but we daily walked the white stone stairs up to our third floor location.

HEALTHFUL A/C - For allergy issues and sleeping comfort, the in-room, fully adjustable heating/air conditioner was fabulously and immediately responsive for our preferences, a cool 17 degree Celsius!

HEALTHFUL BREAKFASTS - The buffet breakfasts were daily varying choices of fresh fruits; fresh vegetable salads; lots of tomatoes, cucumber and dill; cheeses - soft, hard, brie; fish - sauced or plain; eggs - hard boiled and (sometimes) cooked to order egg omelettes; breads, cakes, pastries, cereals; choices of beverages.

FEAST FOR THE SPIRIT - Dining over white linen clothed tables with cloth napkins was nice. But more special was enjoying the morning bayview (mists, sun, rain, wind) through the full wall of patio windows and doors opening to the rock lined deck and planter boxes.

ACCOMMODATING STAFF - The front desk, especially Tzipi, was professionally attentive, reasonably accommodating and always promptly informative! We easily transferred to two connecting rooms. And the service of Hami in the dining room, quiet and attentive, was very appreciated each morning! And a late evening accidental shattering of a drinking glass was taken care of by housekeeping within five minutes aftering phoning the front desk.

ACCOMMODATING COZY ROOMS - Each room had two twin beds side-by-side, with nightstands, a writing desk and chair, bar-size refrigerator, a hot water pot for supplied bags of coffee and tea, mirrored closets, extra pillows/blankets and very clean facilities. The rooms had multiple wall/ceiling lighting to adjust as preferred.

ACCOMMODATING QUIET - Our rooms were not bayside and overlooked a stair path, some trees and a distant building. We appreciated the quiet side, heard no traffic and enjoyed being shaded from the heat of direct sun.

REASONABLE - our fourth visit to Haifa and have stayed at larger hotels of Dan Carmel, Dan Panaroma and Nof. This time preferred a smaller hotel as we were here for ten nights on a Baha'i pilgrimage with a full schedule, departing after buffet breakfast and returning past nine each night. The simple online signup for E-Dan Club got us a little gift on arrival.

RECOMMENDED - for our next visit, we hope to enjoy the Dan Gardens again.

The Dan Gardens has an awesome view, very helpful staff and wonderful food. The only problem is the stairs to get up to the hotel entrance, once up there is an elevator to all floors. It is situated in a great area with incredible views of Haifa Bay. The breakfast each day was excellent with a large selection of items. We would positively return to the Dan Gardens again.