I love the Dead Sea, especially during the colder months. So news of a new hotel that opened there recently was a good enough reason for me to pack a small trolley and head to Ein Bokek to check it out. Spring is probably the best season to visit the area. Although this spring so far has been a little colder than in most years and the wind in the early hours of the morning was a little chilly, I preferred it to being too hot to be outside.
The new Herbert Samuel Hod Dead Sea is the second hotel opened by Nakash Brothers Group in the area, the first one being Milos, a Greek-style boutique hotel located next door to Hod.
“We are very happy to introduce a new hotel in this area,” said Avi Hormero, the chain’s CEO, who says that warm hospitality and giving guests the best time they can possibly get are the driving forces behind the company’s fast-growing list of hotels around Israel.
“I am sure that we will be able to provide our guests here with a unique, high-end experience, as we do in all of our hotels that are spread around the country, from Bayit BaGalil in the North to our Eilat hotels,” he added.
The hotel was built on the shores of the Dead Sea where the iconic Hod hotel used to be. The renovations were done during the lockdown and now, offering the highest level of design and finish, it is open to the public.
The hotel has 211 rooms, most with a balcony with a sea view, including single superior rooms, family rooms, a few pampering suites, a penthouse and rooms with private pools.
There is a beautiful spa, branded as the Herbert Samuel Spa, which offers massages and beauty treatments, a dry sauna, a steam room, a hammam and a very well-equipped gym. There are a few swimming pools including an outdoor one with a bar and restaurant, a salt-water pool, a sulfur pool and a Jacuzzi, and the hotel’s beach is only a minute-stroll away.
The hotel’s dining room offers open buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as some à la carte options. The rich breakfast offers something for everyone, and the dining hall is spacious enough so you get to eat in peace and quiet. My suggestion – when you go down for breakfast, do try to get a table by the large windows overlooking the Dead Sea – you may find yourself sitting there long after you finished your coffee.
The rooms are very comfortable and the atmosphere in the hotel is relaxed and very friendly. A perfect hotel for families as well as for people (like me), who just need to take some time off and relax.
Furnished in subdued shades of blue and beige, very much like the colors you see outside your window or from your balcony, the rooms offer an excellent bed, quality linens and even a pillow menu, as well as high-end Dead Sea cosmetics in the bathroom and an excellent shower.
Arriving at the hotel in the early afternoon I immediately went downstairs to the spa for a swim followed by a heavenly deep-tissue massage, which instantly put me in the vacation mood.
The Dead Sea is perfect for a quiet pause from life so after resting I stayed in the hotel for dinner followed by drinks at the lobby bar, which is by the way well stocked, if you were wondering.
After a very good night’s sleep and a wholesome breakfast, I ventured outside and took a stroll on the beach, reaching the “salt promenade” built nearby – it is a brilliant idea and an excellent Instagram spot, so if you go don’t forget to bring a camera (or at least snap a photo from your smartphone). The images you’ll see will be impossible to resist.
If it is nightlife that you are looking for – you can pop over next door to the Nakash Group’s Milos Hotel, where they open a “taverna” every evening and hold happy Greek-themed evenings by the pool.
Prices start at NIS 1,000 a night per room (2 people) including breakfast, and NIS 1,380 for two for half-board.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.