Golden Walls Hotel

Stayed here as part of a tour group to the Middle East. Rooms are small but clean and comfortable. For a couple of nights stay when you are out and about it is adequate. Five minute walk to the old city and five minute walk to quite acceptable street food. A tip here is to use the roof top terrace (3rd Floor) with locally purchased food and drinks. Staff and service quite good.

This East Jerusalem hotel is Palestinian-owned and run, and is as about as close as you can get to the Old City without actually being inside it (which means that your coach or taxi can still drop you off at the front door). As my photo shows, the view from the roof terrace is inspiring. Don’t necessarily expect all the luxuries or food choices which you might get in a big hotel chain, but we found that service was efficient and the catering reasonably good. The bar and comfortable lounge has huge picture windows looking towards the city walls. The steps from the street up to the first floor reception might be a bit of a challenge, though, for guests with limited mobility. The rest of the hotel is served by a lift. The bedrooms were a bit lacking in character and modernity, and the shower not brilliant, but these are minor quibbles, and there was nothing which caused any concern. Do expect some background noise, as a result of the hotel’s central location. There will be the sound of traffic, and the muezzin may be calling the faithful to prayer at the local mosque before you were really planning to get up. But that’s all part of the Jerusalem experience, if you want to stay at such a busy central location by the Damascus Gate. Popular with Christian pilgrimage groups (for whom the hotel provides a slick operation) there were also Muslim families staying in the hotel when we visited. We would certainly recommend this hotel as a sensible alternative if you want a reasonable level of comfort, just a short stroll from the heart of old Jerusalem.