Isrotel Exclusive Collection: Orient Jerusalem Hotel

We have stayed at the Orient hotel at the beginning of July. The hotel reopened on the 2nd of July after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had a family room which is very spacious. It has two TVs and two air-conditioners which is wonderfully comfortable. On the other hand, there were some odd choices: there is only one garbage can in the room (other than the toilets). Furthermore, for a hotel with two swimming pools, there are not many places to hang wet swimsuits. In addition, being 4 persons, we only had 3 water bottles and 3 towels. Breakfast was delicious. The dining room is very spacious and there is a lot of space between tables. It has also been nicely adapted to the age of the virus, with food being served behind dividers. Sometimes it meant food was being served slower, but that is reasonable considering the situation. Being our second time at the hotel though, it seems the pandemic was used to reduce the previously immense variety. Missing, for example, were the bubbly morning drinks, condiments, spreads, and traditional Jewish foods. On COVID-19 the hotel seems to adhere to the national standards. There are posted instructions and the staff is asking guests politely to follow them. Nevertheless, since you will find people not following the guidelines outside the hotel, you will also find some of these in the hotel. I would expect the hotel staff to be stricter in these cases since it will allow them to continue to operate. Another unfortunate note is the food found in the hotel is priced way too high to be accessible. We have only eaten at the rooftop restaurant and, although there were quality ingredients, the result was disappointing. You can always go outside across the road to the station or the German colony for cheaper meal. Other issues we had included a request from guest services, which did not arrive. An hour later we called again, and then guest services arrived twice! Then again, we had another call to guest services, and they have arrived immediately. Public toilets had maintenance issues, one toilet being clogged and empty soap dispensers. In summary the hotel appears either still to wake up from being dormant or just not coping yet with the summer load. Nevertheless, we had great fun and a great vacation!