My husband and I stayed 5 nights in the Grand Court Hotel at the end of May. We were quite taken by the pictures and reviews, and the good rate offered by the tour operator that we booked this hotel. The lovely reception area is quite impressive and spacious when you walk in but were a bit disappointed that this wasn't as grand as we thought it would be.
The hotel is located to the east end of Jerusalem with an Arab district to the front door - hence most of the staff were Arab - and a very religious Jewish District to the back! No problem... however, the nearest shop was 10 minutes walk and you had the choice of going Turkish or Arab in not the nicest areas of Jerusalem.
If you like walking, and Jerusalem is a hilly city, there is a good 30 minute walk to the Old City and there again to the Jaffa Road area. We were able to keep very fit by walking everywhere. However, once the tram takes passengers, this will be a great hopping on and off form of public transport if you stay in this hotel!
The rooms are just very average with comfy beds and a nice shower but soap coming from a dispenser. There was enough room for us to pack and spread out our belongings. There was a kettle in the room but you needed to pay for tea/coffee - or take a few tea-bags from the breakfast buffet.
We had the choice of having breakfast in the downstairs dining room or a smaller room near the cafe. I think this was to over-see the large groups which this hotel catered for. The 2nd option wasn't available on a Saturday, though. There was plenty of choice of breakfast - of all the usual Israeli breakfast staples plus freshly squeezed orange juice (only in the smaller room). The breakfast varied slightly each day with lots of fresh fruit and salads and omeletes prepared on the spot. The food was over all good and nicely presented but the waiters had a habit of taking away your plate as soon as you put your fork/spoon down or went back to the buffet. We dined in the lower dining room on the Saturday and this was a very noisy experience indeed. The dining room, of course, offered a much larger variety of food.
The pool area was lovely and clean but the downside was the lack of sun loungers. 6 counted in total. There were many relaxers and parasols, and you were able to get free beach towels for the pool. However, if you were lucky to get a sunlounger, and left it for more than 5 minutes, the towel was taken away and someone else would be sat in your place. Reserving sun loungers at 6 am is an impossible NO! The pool area doesn't open til 10 am and is first come, first served.
My Husband and I used the gym - a tiny room, with old fashioned cardio and some weights. We tried to use this at 5 pm on Friday and it was locked it! We reported this to reception and they said the instructor might have gone to the toilet. We returned but again it was locked. The gym didn;t open til 10 am which put a pay to going for an early work-out and a day of either sun bathing or sight-seeing. Very annoying! Certainly doesn't cater for someone staying at the hotel on business.
We decided to dine in the hotel on Friday night, and made enquiries about the price. However, when we came to reserve a table, we were advised the hotel was full and we had to make alternative arrangements. The receptionists were not at all helpful when my husband said we are paying guests in the hotel - and what are suppose to do as it is Friday night! We ended up dining in the Olive Tree next door which was just excellent and probably much nice than the Grand Court.
Over all the hotel was full of French and tour groups - with coach loads of people pulling up and leaving each day. You hardly saw the same face the next day and considering we stayed here 5 nights, it was difficult to understand this concept.
The hotel has lots of potential - but I suppose the lack of space around the pool, the large dining room for breakfast, the noisy French, the coach loads, the lack of local amentities - ie hardly any shops nearby and certainly no restaurant in reasonable walking distance, make a visit at this hotel less than grand.
