When we received an invitation to a bed and breakfast at the Herbert Samuel Hotel in Jerusalem, we were delighted.
It’s not just a well-known five-star hotel; it’s also named for my fellow Liverpudlian Herbert Samuel, who was born there in 1870.
Viscount Samuel was the first Jew to serve as a cabinet minister in the British government, leader of the Liberal Party from 1931-1935, and the first high commissioner of Palestine from 1920-1925.
The hotel is situated in the center of the city, and we were given a suite on the 10th floor, which provided a panoramic view of Jerusalem, including the new Museum of Tolerance nearby.
We were able to ascertain that it is indeed designed to represent a dove’s wings to reinforce its message of hope and peace.
Our suite included a very wide, comfortable bed; a sitting area with a large TV; tub chairs; a sofa and coffee table; and a large bathroom with a walk-in shower. We even discovered some bathroom scales which, fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, didn’t work.
A place to relax in Jerusalem's heart
The white, beige, and pale brown colour scheme was relaxing, and the provided coffee machine was very welcome. My clever husband always goes down to the bar and comes back up with a cup of fresh milk so we can really enjoy the coffee.
We dutifully set off to explore the hotel, which contains a very attractive spa with a swimming pool and gym.
My husband, who has fish-like swimming talents, tried the pool and pronounced it to be warm and pleasant. We also inspected the gym, which was very well-equipped with all the usual machines.
Nearby, there is an attractive rest area done out in blue and brown for recovering from the strenuous activity.
The spa, which radiates an attractive fresh scent, offers a wet sauna, a dry sauna, showers, changing rooms, soft white towels, and lockers. There’s plenty of greenery around, mostly artificial, but with the odd live plant here and there. There’s also a small “recovery” room serving a selection of herbal teas and fresh green apples.
The hotel lobby is very large with easy chairs to sit and relax, and watch people coming and going, always an interesting pastime.
In one corner stands a grand piano, suggesting elegant post-prandial recitals lit by overhead chandeliers. As in the bedroom, the colors are soothing and subtle, beige and blue, with the odd zebra-striped black and white easy chair for contrast.
On the wall are black and white prints of early Israel and a portrait of Sir Herbert himself, surveying the scene.
The hotel does not serve dinner except on Thursday and Friday, so we explored the area around Nahalat Shiva for our evening meal. It was not until the next morning, after a very good night’s sleep, that we got to sample the breakfast served every morning in the hotel.
This was a typical Israeli breakfast buffet, with a large selection of dishes. Unfortunately, freshly cooked eggs were not available due to some technical fault with the cooking facilities, so we weren’t able to have the omelets we had been looking forward to.
However, as is usual in Israeli breakfasts, there was a variety of smoked fish and herring. The smoked salmon was thickly sliced and not oversalty. The herring was greatly in need of some added flavoring, such as sugar or a sweetener, and vinegar.
There was a mountain of tuna and a quite original salad of sliced artichokes.
The cheese section contained many variations on white cheese – five to be exact – with some hard cheeses also provided.
The salad bar was extensive and seemed to include every vegetable known to man. Another section consisted of dips including hummus and tehina, creamy avocado, pesto, and a particularly peppery green chili spread.
To make up for the lack of cooked eggs, there was a dish of shakshuka, which was very comforting. One could also indulge in cheese burekas and savory pastries. For a very good and tasty nibble, there were roasted garlic cloves, and the olives provided on the buffet were very good, big, and juicy.
Another corner of the buffet served pizza, and this was exceptionally good – paper-thin crust, plenty of hot melted cheese with toppings of yellow pimento. Other dips included pesto, matbucha (spicy tomato), and aubergine ‘caviar.”
There was an endless variety of breads and rolls to suit all tastes and other spreads besides butter, all kinds of jams and honey.
We ended this great breakfast with two very good cakes and tried not to over-indulge, although this was difficult as they were so delicious. The first was a creamy cheesecake with a very thin, barely perceptible crumb base, and a poppy seed yeast cake, which was superb.
The cappuccinos were very good, and we would like to pay a compliment to Mohamed, whose coffee was in great demand by all the breakfast eaters but who managed to turn them out quickly and with minimal fuss.
We said our farewells to the very friendly staff who had all been especially charming and drove back to our seaside home with fond memories of a very pleasant overnight stay in Jerusalem.
The cost of a night plus breakfast in a suite is NIS 2,300. A regular room is NIS 1,000.
25 Shamai St., Jerusalem.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.