Beit Shmuel’s Holiday Apartment

I stayed at Beit Shmuel during a two day recorder workshop. Everything was fine. The room clean and comfortable. No view from the windows and the room is not huge, but quiet. Breakfast fine. Not a Vow. Its not a place for staying around the whole day, but very central when visiting Jerusalem. One can get to many places walking and there are plenty of buses that would take one anywhere.

I know it's a hostel and that I should have no expectations. But there is minimalist and there is Spartan, and this is the latter. First the good things: the airconditioner was ok. There is a TV in the room (which I didn't even switch on, I presume it works). No soap in the bathroom (although there was shampoo and conditioner and lotion). I used shampoo to wash my hands. No glasses to drink from, not even a plastic cup. No tissues. No shower curtain, no floor mat. No wifi. Don't even think of parking, although there are pay lots fairly nearby. The room was tiny, but as I was alone, that was not a problem. There is no elevator so if you have heavy bags .... Breakfast was barely ok. But I didn't expect more. Surly staff in the room. Front desk staff were more polite. I could accept all this if the price was reasonable. But at close to 500 shekels, it was bad.