Agripas Boutique Hotel

Our travel group -- one of the few allowed into Israel during this time of covid -- stayed for four nights at the Agripas Hotel in mid-October 2021. Unfortunately, I have to report that one of our travelers had an item stolen from his room. The hotel is built on a small footprint, but the location for those who want to be close to the action is excellent -- a couple of blocks from the main intersection of Jaffa Street (with its light rail) and King George Street, (with its many bus lines) and a five minute walk to the very lively Machane Yehuda market. However, there's construction going on in this area, so the rat-tat-tat of jackhammers can bleed through even closed hotel windows. A small hotel also means small rooms. Those in our group who had the smallest single person rooms found them constricting. My wife and I had a larger, twin bed room, with a little more space. However, the size of the showers (no bathtubs) was miniscule, ours being perhaps two feet by two feet. There were electrical outlets near our beds and at the room's desk. The door lock opened with a key card which several times in our four days failed to function and had to be reset. For the Sabbath, a physical key was available to borrow for those who wanted. The hotel has an enclosed breakfast room on the roof, which can be accessed only by a flight of stairs from the fourth floor, which would make it difficult for a handicapped person to get to. The breakfasts were not lavish but certainly decent enough, with a chef who whipped up some specialty items. However, breakfast was not served on the Sabbath, Saturday. Beyond the theft from a colleague's room, what struck me was the inattention to needed detail. When our group checked in, our leader found that there were no towels or toilet paper in her room. The room for my wife and me was not ready. On one day, the sole, slightly used soap bar was removed, but not replaced. The same with a shower cap. On our floor, a group of French visitors asked management that the hallway lights be turned off (to prevent their kids from congregating there?), so for the entire Sabbath (Friday to Saturday nights) the hallway was dark. Our colleague who'd been victimized by the theft has spoken to and communicated several times with the manager. It's now one and half weeks since we checked out, and the matter remains unresolved, even an offer of reimbursement for the taken item. Security: We noticed several times that there was no one at the lobby's front desk, and there's no security guard. Anyone could have walked in and gone up the elevator or stairs. If the Agripas Hotel could get its act together more, it would be a decent three-star hotel. But certainly not yet.