We were part of an 80 member group who stayed at the hotel between 5 and 12 May. We were constantly reminded that the hotel had done us a HUGE favour taking such a big group, so soon after opening. As far as I am concerned, either they were open for busines, or they were not!

Our room on the 2nd floor looked out onto the parking lot and a strip of the bathroom window was not treated so one was constantly wondering who could be looking up into the room! The bathroom became unsavoury because of toilet smells exuding from a drain hole in the floor. All we could do was leave the windows open.

Everyone takes breakfast in the same dismal room. Sometimes the food was great and abundant, other times they ran out of even the simplest things, although the manager of that area was most obliging.

The staff at the front desk were not particularly helpful, and borrowing a hair dryer really can be quite an issue. Being a so-called Boutique hotel implies a certain intimacy of service standards, lacking at this establishment, because it is quite simply too big to be a boutique.

The hotel is a brisk 35 minute walk going to the Kotel via the Dung Gate, and a little longer coming back because of the hill. It is not conveniently situated for Jerusalem central.

If you want to take panoramic phtographs I suggest going up the staircase from the 5th floor, through an office that seems to be deserted at most times, and out onto the roof top of the hotel. Large trees obscure the views from the third floor.

My husband and I stayed here for 5 nights on our recent trip to Israel. It was the nicest and cleanest hotel we stayed in during our trip; I enjoyed it more than our stays at the larger hotels such as Dan Panorama in Haifa and Sheraton in Tiberias.

This is a new hotel, and they are still doing some finishing touches. When we were there they were working on the parking lot and doing some painting in the interior. They renovated an older hotel which used to be called "Arial" and many taxi drivers still know it by that name. So if you take a taxi there, just tell them "Arial" if they give you a blank stare. It is on a very busy road with a difficult entry into the lot. Drivers basically need to pass it and do a U-turn to get in. I don't know if this is the reason, but a taxi driver told us that guests sometimes have a problem getting a taxi from this hotel. But we did not have any issues.

The decor was interesting but I got the impression that it is trying to be too trendy. Still, compared with the extremely dated decor we saw in other hotels in Israel, they did a good job with it. There are flat screen TVs throughout the hotel that broadcast films (mostly strange cartoons), which we were told are done by local film students. The lobby bar area is a fun place to hang out with a drink. They had jazz entertainment on two nights that we were there, which was a treat. The hotel staff was nice and accommodating.

Our room was spacious and the bed was comfortable. As I recall, it did not have a hair dryer.

There was a large outside deck with tables and lounge chairs, with a gorgeous view of the city. The adjacent fitness room was small but had all the basic machines you need and it was fun working out with a view of Jerusalem in front of me.

The breakfast had a decent selection but I found the food to be just OK.

The location is great. It is walking distance to the old city, as well as the German Colony area where there are lots of shops and restaurants.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience and would stay there again.

When we visited Jerusalem in February 2008, we went to take a look at the Dan Boutique - where we had booked a room for our trip in May.

We had booked on line and the photos of the rooms were fantastic.

However when we visited, it was an artist's impression. The hotel said it would be open in two weeks - the builders said - at least 4 weeks. In the end they opened in April - obviously in great haste.

The hotel is NOT up ot the usual Dan standard. The initial impression was good. And the view from our room - towards the Old City Walls - was brilliant. But that's about all.

The bedroom did not have enough draw space and the cupboard was practically full with a fridge, safe, extra pillows and blankets. There was nowhere to put the luggage out of the way.
There was no hairdryer, no kettle with tea and coffee tray , no bottled water in the room - so no way of making a drink,.

I asked reception to arrange for a hairdryer to be put oin my room - for use when I returned from my day out and was told to collect it myself.

There were no hooks in the bathroom to hang up the towelling robes and no shaving mirror. The paint work was shoddy in both the bedroom and the bathroom - the bathroom door frame has one thin coat of paint - showing the wood through and the paint also covered some of the tiles around the door frame. There was a chip out of the wall in the bedroom.

And please remember - this is a brand new hotel -just 4 weeks old.

The breakfast room - felt like a kibbutz dining room - no style as one would expect of a Dan.
The breakfasts were OKish. Uninteresting salads - "fruit juice" that was squash. The staff did not check when the food needed replenishing - so, for example we had to ask for jam - and all they had was little pots of orange jam. No choice.

And so it goes on. We spoke to the manager who admitted he was having problems.

In comparison - we stayed at the Melody Hotel (another Boutique hotel) in Tel Aviv and thought it was wonderful. Met "Lebatt" there who introduced us to Trip Advisor. It's because of him that I decided to write this entry to ensure that visitors are aware of the shortcomings of the Dan Boutique in Jerusalem.

View great - good walking distance from the Old City - the rest mediocre.

I stayed in the Dan Boutique over the Passover holiday excluding Seder night. I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel and staff.
Here's my ratings:

Staff - Even though I live in Israel and am used to absolutely no customer service, Dan Boutique provided tons of excellent service. Staff were actually helpful and even polite (an oxymoron in Israel). Even my family from the States didn't complain! 5/5

Decor - A bit too trendy, but nice try. Flat screen tvs everywhere and mod colors. 3/5

Rooms - We stayed in a studio room. It was a nice size for the money. Beds were extremely comfortable (hard mattresses) and the bathrooms were nicely done. View was lousy so we just kept the curtains pulled. 4/5

Prices - Very reasonable for Jerusalem. 4/5

Rooftop - Area was magnificent - great view. It was adjacent to the small workout room. 5/5

Food - Weakest point, but maybe because it was over Passover. The food had no taste and the selection was not the greatest. It's not what you would expect for a typical Israeli breakfast. 2/5

Location - Not the greatest, even though it's a 25 minute walk to the old city and 10 minutes to the Inbal hotel. If you want to go to Ben Yehuda area, you'll need to drive or take a taxi. 3/5

Would I go there again? You bet, but I'll bring some of my own bagels next time.