Our stay in Tel Aviv with my sister enabled us to see 4 different suites. All have two small rooms. One is a bedroom with a radio, TV and bath. The other room is a small living room with a sofa bed, also with TV and bath. The rooms are very clean, apparently recently remodeled. All have one bath, some have 2 baths. All have a small or tiny, kithcenette with silverware, plates, bowls, microwave and toaster. 3 rooms had excellent air conditioning, 1 had adequate A/C. The housekeeping staff was very friendly. The front desk staff was usually friendly. It helped to be friendly and polite to them. The location is excellent, just across the street from the US embassy, and a short walk to the beach. It's also walkable to the Carmel Market and Dizengoff center if you're a good walker. If you're looking for the Israeli breakfast, you won't find it here. Walk 2 blocks to the "AM-PM" (I thought she said A&P!) and buy what you need for breakfast. They even have soy milk! There's also an internet cafe one block away. The view can be terrible from the rooms because the hotel is wedged between 50s styled Tel Aviv apartment boxes. Some rooms have a glimpse of the beach. If you don't need to be pampered, this hotel is a good value in a good location. It is not a full service luxury hotel.

From San Francisco I made reservations with Best Western Regency Suites at 80 Hayarkon. Not because I wanted a suite, but for location and price. I had a partial view of the sea from the bedroom, and a parking lot view from the living room. With the AARP membership paid $108 a night. Up to 4 people per rooms, one double bed in the bedroom, one pullout sofa in the living room. Children stay free with paying adults.

Of course the choice was not the cheapest, but really good, and I’d stay there again! And can recommend this hotel. It looks like being recently remodeled, very clean and neat.

While on the tour, I didn’t need to show neither passport nor the credit card upon check-in. In the hotel I was on my own, so a copy of both was taken for tax purposes, the foreigners don’t pay hotel taxes on anything charged to the room.

My friend with her husband stayed at Maxim, they are Israelis, stay there often, like the rooms, but the breakfast she described as “lousy”. I had the room only, no food, and once waiting for these friends to visit me, bought a breakfast at the BW for $6. OJ, coffee, toast, margarine, jams, rolls, cheese - not bad, but not Dan’s buffet either :) Margarine is the usual thing in Israel, can’t remember ever seeing butter.

The suite was not exactly as described on the website. For example, it took a while to figure out the “welcome gift”. In other hotels, when I left tips, I’d get something additional. In this hotel the maid left 2 bottles of shampoo the first night. After tipping, no shampoo. So I guess this is what they describe as the welcome gift.

2 TVs and 2 phones, and the living room TV I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on (big surprise for an electronically challenged person huh :) Both TVs are small, but plenty of channels in many languages. Instead of the promised coffee maker an electric teakettle. Instead of a microwave I had a toaster oven. The kitchen was fully equipped with glasses, plates, bowls, and cutlery for 4. Refrigerator, sink, counter space. It looks like the suites were designed for long-term stays.

I liked the way the housekeeping is done. It’s a small place where they know you by name and/or appearance, or they ask for your room number when you’re leaving. The front desk gets on the walkie-talkie telling the maid which room to clean while the guest is away. Neat, huh?

Great location by the sea, couple of steps down, all kinds of cafes and restaurants, AM-PM shops selling produce, souvenir shops, American embassy, post office, and public laundry - all within no more then 4 small blocks. No public phone in the hotel to use a phone card, but there are 2 within 1/2 block of the hotel. To call USA dial 012-1-xxx-xxxx.

faina22@hotmail.com

Just got back from a short break in Tel Aviv, staying at the Best Western Regency Suites hotel.

This is a small block of apartments, each with one bedroom, a lounge area with sofa bed, a bathroom and a kitchen area with microwave & fridge. The hotel was clean throughout, and the suites were cleaned daily with fresh towels and laundry. All members of staff were most friendly and helpful. There's no restaurant in the hotel (you can buy breakfast however), but there are so many places to eat close by that it's not a problem.

Regency Suites has a great central location, just a minute from the beach and a short walk to the city centre. Overall it's an ideal place to stay if you want somewhere central for visiting Tel Aviv, simple, clean, and well-priced, and you don't need the luxury or facilities that a more expensive hotel would provide.

*Warning* Tel Aviv is full of one-way streets and it took us ages to find the hotel in the car the first time. It's on the right-hand side of Ha-Yarkon Street, just after the Isrotel Tower hotel, if you're driving north (which is the only way you can drive up Ha-Yarkon). It's set back slightly so is easy to miss, as is the entrance to the underground car park which is to the left of the hotel.