Notre Dame Guesthouse

It doesn’t happen often that I regret the money I spent in a hotel, here I really did... The reason we chose Notre Dame was the location and the fact that they offer a parking. Indeed the location is fantastic, next to the New gate, it doesn’t get any better, and the building is beautiful, from the outside at least. However, the service is mediocre at best, it just depends whom you have in front of you, some ladies at the breakfast were very friendly, then the next day you have some guys that seem to be hired straight from the street, totally inattentive, talking Arabic loudly amongst themselves and even singing, just as if they were alone in the room. The friendliest we met were from housekeeping. Front office? There’s a person called Walid, not sure what such an individual is doing in a hotel, he should be working at the back of a Post office very far from any guest contact. He managed to do hands down the rudest check out I ever had. I felt like, here’re your invoice, now get the hell out of here. The rooms are, well, at the level of a 1 star hotel, very clean yes, but there’s nothing inside besides a cupboard, a desk and an awful bed, that is way too short and hard. The a/c - heating is so loud that you have to turn it off if you like to sleep. There is no coffee maker, no tv, not even a bottle of water! For 200 and 280$, sorry that’s just not good enough. We had a nice terrace, but with 6-7 buses in front of you on the ramp with their Diesel engines on, it’s just unbearable. There is however a lovely sign that says “ turn engine off”, but who cares? The soundproofing is nonexistent so sleep wasn’t good either, also every noise from the corridor can be heard inside the room. Breakfast is basic at best, it’s what you’d get in a roadside motel, horrible coffee and the scrambled eggs looked like chunks of dried egg cooked hours before. The roof top restaurant? Yes that was the only nice f&b experience we had and the food was good, although very expensive. This is certainly not a hotel but a well located dormitory for tour group pilgrims with few or no expectations, arriving by bus loads. The overall feeling is just that nobody really cares and that the place is not managed. Everyone just does as they feel. Maybe there is a manager, waiting for days to pass by but certainly not witnessing what is happening. We didn’t feel welcome at all and were happy to leave on our 4th day. To crown our departure we had some shabby and unshaven man coming to us on the parking and say: “ I WANT you move your car, because tonight all cars but be gone” I’ve been working in hotels for the past 30 years and I can only say, this was a disgrace and I am happy now to forget this sad experience. This was the last time I have spent 1$ to anything closely associated with the church.

Notre Dame Guest House is a gracious and comfortable place to dine. Although, I didn't happen to stay there it would be convenient and pleasant. The buffet in the dining room is fabulous and the service is excellent! Next to the Guest House is a moving and emotional exhibit on the shroud. A wonderful place to visit or stay in Jerusalem!