Kids are most welcome

The Pastoral Hotel in Kfar Blum has added a new boutique wing with 45 luxurious family rooms.

By NECHAMA VEEDER
Pastoral Hotel (photo credit: Adi Peretz)
Pastoral Hotel
(photo credit: Adi Peretz)
The Pastoral Hotel’s new boutique wing is a rare breed – it provides luxury accommodation with all the trimmings that is also geared to families.
The size and furnishings of the rooms, with their Italian-tiled floors, roomy wardrobe and swishing curtains, will make you feel thoroughly pampered.
And even with two children in the room, the lodging doesn’t lose its spacious feel.
This summer, Kfar Blum’s veteran hotel expanded to include 45 new 40-square meter boutique rooms, causing the Tourism Ministry to upgrade the hotel’s rating. As part of the upgrade, the hotel also renovated its restaurant and lobby. A heated indoor pool area – complete with wading pool, Finnish sauna and a Jacuzzi – that is set to open in 2013 will complete the expansion. The hotel can now accommodate 450 people in its 192 rooms that are scattered throughout the property in low-rise buildings – and it has the facilities to match the numbers.
Our stay at the hotel was utterly enjoyable.
In addition to the multitude of activities in the Upper Galilee that we took advantage of, we equally enjoyed the time we spent in Kfar Blum.
Breakfast was a cut above the average hotel meal, with colorful salads, a wide enough variety of cheeses to suit every preference, fresh bread, herring, and even gravlax. Our children, stunned that they were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, piled their plates with rogelach, pancakes with chocolate sauce and chocolate cereal – washed down with chocolate milk, of course. Dinner was also delicious, with different dishes and fresh salads each night.
To burn off those vacation calories, a well-appointed gym staffed by a fitness instructor is open for guests.
The Olympic-sized pool offers hours of fun and relaxation, and the hotel’s green lawns provide plenty of room to play.
Back in the room, the relaxing atmosphere continues. The bathrooms are fitted out with a massive French bath and a large luxury shower. The toiletries provided include hair conditioner – my litmus test for proper attention to detail.
A large TV screen and free Wi-Fi are provided for entertainment, though the Internet reception is patchy.
The boutique wing is a fair walk from the lobby and restaurant, but there is a second parking lot near the rooms.
Overall, the hotel leaves you with the feeling that no thought or forward planning has been spared to ensure that guests are as comfortable and as pampered as possible.