Water slides, tennis and ducks: Who knew there was a holiday village in the heart of Ramat Gan

In the heart of Ramat Gan, just a few steps from the Safari and the National Park, lies Kfar Maccabia – a vast compound spreading over 80 dunams, which is also and also and also: Also a hotel, also a sports club, also pools and slides, and also an iconic sports museum with activities for children, and also a convention center – everything in one place, and the best part – with plenty of lawns and water all around.

The hotel offers business, classic, and family rooms, alongside spacious family suites with fairly large balconies. There is a spa for massage lovers and a gymboree for the very little ones, including one for older children located in the pool area.

We stayed in a spacious suite with a balcony, which includes a living room with a sofa bed, a bedroom, a workstation, a pampering bathroom with a bathtub and a shower stall, and an additional restroom, which is a brilliant touch. There are televisions in both the living room and the bedroom, contributing to fewer arguments with the kids.

The bed in the room is incredibly comfortable and large, and the bed in the living room is also wonderful, and no less important – the curtains close tightly and allow for absolute darkness, an essential requirement for a proper vacation.

The shower is wonderful with excellent water pressure, soft towels, and pampering soaps. The coffee station is equipped with an espresso machine, which is always nice, and also a refrigerator. At the front of the room, there is a closed shutter that simulates a wall and arouses curiosity. After looking into it, we discovered it was a kitchen, but only those who own the apartment can open and use it, which is a bit strange.

The balcony is large, spacious, and brings a great breeze into the room, except that ours faced the direction of recycling bins – something that is not particularly pleasant. Even if trees and tennis courts were visible behind them, the atmosphere could have been more pastoral. In addition, a large part of the balcony floor was dotted with droppings from pigeons that rested on the connecting beams between the balcony and the building.

The hotel facilities are the real showstopper. The hotel has a huge pool area with a large outdoor pool and another heated pool, a toddler area including water slides, an air-conditioned gymboree that children will happily embrace, and two genuinely fun water slides for kids and adults, including a yellow Kamikaze that drops your heart into your pants.

Also in the pool compound: Padel, football, and tennis courts, and a lot of lawns, including a pair of ducks wandering freely under a "live and let live" agenda. We cannot remember when we last encountered such an abundance of fun and diverse activities, which turn the day into a celebration for the children and allow the parents to chill out.

Aside from that, you will find the Jewish Sports Museum in the compound, an interactive museum that combines sports, history, Zionism, and inspirational stories, and it is definitely worth a visit.

In the summer, many, many more activities are planned: Open-air movie screenings, water activities and inflatables, children's shows, Kabbalat Shabbat with live music, World Cup screenings on a giant screen, lectures, and workshops for adults.

The dining room is a bit basic. It is located not far from the lobby and gives off somewhat of an outdated convalescent home vibe in its design, as well as in some of the dishes, salads with a lot of dill, for example.

Nevertheless, the selection of main courses is quite large, and we managed to find quite a few things we really liked – pulled asado, spring chicken, whole chicken on a bed of rice, and during Saturday lunch, there was also a comforting cholent.

A two-minute walk from the hotel, right at the entrance to the pool, operates the coffee cart Emma Cafe in the Village, which provides a great culinary option with a sea of tempting carbohydrates: Pretzel bun sandwiches filled with Boucheron cheese and walnuts, a juicy salmon bagel, a giant croissant filled with pistachio, and even a fairly good pizza. All of this goodness can be taken to the pool or eaten in the cafe's chill-out area, featuring lounging sofas, umbrellas, and low wooden tables scattered in the sun and shade.

It is truly delightful to collapse in the compound after two hours in the pool with the kids, and enjoy good food and calm chill-out music that sweeps you away into vacation vibes.

Kfar Maccabia Hotel is quite a find. Its location is right in the center of the country, close to many, many things – culinarily and culturally, and the vacation experience, together with the pool and the numerous facilities, makes it possible not to leave the hotel for several days and to feel just like in a real village immersed in green, despite the urban location.

The kids summarized it as an "awesome place" and already asked to return. In our opinion, it is indeed a pleasure, but a little more attention to the small details is required (a peeling dresser in the room, what the pigeons left behind, upgrading the salads), and the place will be entirely one of the best in the area.