The Hilton Tel Aviv has recently undergone renovations and it continuing to renovate more guestrooms and other areas of the hotel. I was pretty impressed with the work they have done so far and am excited to see how the hotel will look once they are finished.
Location
The Hilton is the north-most beach hotel located in Tel Aviv city center. The hotel is located within walking distance of many city attractions and of course just minutes away from the city’s nicest beaches. There is limited access to public transport however, with few bus routes close by.
Check In
We arrived at the hotel in the early evening to a quiet lobby where we were able to check in immediately. After a long discussion with the front desk staff, they were able to upgrade me to a one-bedroom suite as a Hilton diamond member. The hotel was nowhere near full occupancy, so I was a bit disappointed that it took so much effort to upgrade a diamond member. Nevertheless, I was happy with the outcome.
I really loved the design of the hotel lobby.
Next to the front desk was a priority check in desk, however I didn’t see anyone sitting there at any point during my stay.
The hotel has four elevators for guests and we never waited more than a few seconds for one to take us where we needed to go. I like the system the Hilton has where you select the floor you want to go to before getting into the elevator. This allocates elevators more efficiently to get people to the floors they need to go to more quickly.
The Room
Our one bedroom suite (rooms 701 and 703) was previously two separate rooms that are now sold as one suite. They basically replaced the bed in room 703 with a couch and coffee table and call it a living room. While not the most elegant suite, given how rare it is to be upgraded at the Hilton Tel Aviv, I wasn’t complaining.
The bedroom (room 701) has a small entrance with closet space to the left, the bathroom straight ahead, and the bedroom to the right.
The bathroom is quite special in this room as it has a massive window next to the bathtub which looks out to the sea. This was easily my favorite feature of this room.
Only two rooms on each floor have these bathrooms, the 01 and 02 rooms (501, 502, 601, 602 etc..). Be sure to request one of these rooms at check in and you may just get lucky!
The room 701 bedroom was slightly larger than the standard size at the hotel with one large double bed, TV, nightstands, work desk, armchair, and a large balcony looking north-west with two outdoor chairs.
The room design was unmemorable, though the views are exceptional both from the balcony and bathroom!
The bathrooms are stocked with Ahava products including a nice bag of special products as a gift to take home.
The living room had essentially the same layout as a regular hotel room if you replaced the bed with a couch. This room had a second full bathroom with a shower (although no sea view), couch, armchair, coffee table, closet, TV, working desk and a large balcony with the same great view as the bedroom.
I found the couch and armchair to be hideous and uncomfortable. It seems very little thought was put into the design of this room, rather they wanted to convert it into a suite as cheaply and quickly as possible.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served at the Café Med restaurant at level -1 every morning. The restaurant was newly renovated and looks great with modern décor and awesome views out to the sea.
There are a wide range of options available for breakfast including a massive selection of vegetables and dips, fruit, bread, pastries, hot dishes, fish, yogurt, and plenty of cheeses. They also have an omelet station as well as a barista to make fresh coffee.
There is no menu to order from at the tables, though I found the buffet selection to be sufficient and tasty.
My only complaint regarding the breakfast is regarding the fruit selection. I expect good hotels to have delicious fruit at breakfast, however the fruit available at the Hilton was very disappointing. Maybe this is a seasonal issue, though I was disappointed nevertheless.
I did ask if they had any pineapple in the kitchen one morning. The chef happily brought out a full pineapple, cut it up, and gave me as much as I wanted which I really appreciated.
Hotel Amenities
This massive property boasts some nice amenities including a large outdoor pool area, gym and spa, plenty of event space, and a wonderful executive lounge on the 12th floor.
The pool can be accessed from floor -1 at the back of the hotel. The pool is fairly large with plenty of lounge chairs and a great view of the beach below. The pool is open year-round; however I didn’t see more than two people in the pool area during our stay at the beginning of December.
Unfortunately, the Hilton Tel Aviv doesn’t have an indoor pool as well for use in the winter.
The hotel gym is located on floor -2. To access it, you’ll need to walk through the spa where you’ll find the gym hidden at the back. While accessing the gym was not so straightforward, the gym itself is certainly above average with a nice range of machines and equipment available.
The executive lounge is located on the 12th floor and occupies the space of about three guestrooms facing south-west. The lounge has both indoor and outdoor seating spread across the three rooms with a buffet in the last room.
The lounge serves breakfast in the mornings, snacks and drinks throughout the day, and a full dinner in the evenings.
Lounge Midday Snacks
Lounge Midday Snacks
Lounge Midday Snacks
I was quite impressed by the dinner service with fish, several hot side dishes as well as salads, bread, cheese and dessert.
Lounge Dinner
Lounge Dinner
Lounge Dinner
Lounge Dinner
Lounge Dinner
No meat is served in the lounge as it would conflict with the hotel’s strictly kosher kitchen.
Bottom Line
After the recent renovations, the Hilton Tel Aviv is likely my favorite Tel Aviv beachfront hotel. The hotel staff were excellent, breakfast was very good, I absolutely loved our sea view bathroom! The other hotel amenities were good as well. The hotel location should be convenient for most people visiting Tel Aviv as well.
For me, the only disappointment was the poorly furnished suite living room which I hope is only temporary and will be refurnished soon.
I am certainly looking forward to my next stay at Hilton Tel Aviv!
