Lev Yerushalayim Apartment Hotel

I was a guest at Lev Jerusalem in August of 2019. During that trip the room that I shared with my mother was entered and valuable jewelry was stolen. The most disturbing thing of all is that the theft took place AT NIGHT WHILE MY MOTHER AND I WERE ASLEEP IN THE ROOM. When I reported this to the front desk, they seemed as if they barely cared at all. There was another guest standing there with me at the time, and upon hearing me report this theft to the front desk, stated that SHE ALSO believed that her room was entered and jewelry was stolen out of her room. It is my belief that there is an organized theft ring from the inside taking place in this hotel. I am in the process of reporting this to the police. DO NOT STAY AT LEV JERUSALEM.

A colleague and I stayed for 5 nights at the hotel in May 2019 prior to joining a tour group. I've stayed here at least a dozen times in recent years, the last in the fall of 2018. What Lev Yerushalayim lacks in amenities it makes up by being in one of the best locations of downtown Jerusaelem. It's on King George Street, with a large number of bus lines at the stop in front of the hotel, and a couple of blocks from Jaffa Road with its light rail. It's a 10-minute walk from the famed Machane Yehuda shuk (market). It's across the street from the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall. If you choose not to have the decent but unelaborate hotel breakfast there are plenty of coffee shop equivalents within a couple of blocks radius. Because the hotel was originally built as a timeshare, the rooms are slightly larger than the older, standard hotel rooms in the area, with a separate living room, bedroom and bathroom. Given today's power needs, it's handy to bring with you (or buy at a hardware store a few blocks away on Agrippas Street) a 220-volt electrical extension cord with 4 or 5 outlets. The noted Yeshurun Synagogue is less than 10-minute walk away on King George Street, and the Great Synagogue a couple of blocks further. There are convenience stores with long hours within a couple of blocks. For your laundry, go to the Hamerkaz laundromat/dry cleaner on Keren Hakayemet Street 11, about a 12-minute walk from the hotel, with Sunday through Thursday hours 8 am - 6 pm, ending earlier on Friday. I've consistently paid 50 shekels for a regular laundry bag full of clothes over the past 5 years, and if you bring it in early it will be ready after noon; credit cards accepted. Rooms on the King George side are noiser, with all the traffic. Ask for a room on the plaza side (facing Eliash Street). If you snag a first floor room, you'll get a balcony (which you may have to clean a bit if the birds got there first). If you arrive by taxi or shared van, the driver should let you off on Eliash Street, since they can't stop on King George Street, and it's two flights of outdoor stairs anyway to the front door, but level from Eliash Street.