Herods Dead Sea

The latest addition to the Herods chain has been open for a few months now, and we thought we'd have a look at how things are going. You'll recall that the hotel that houses the Herods has been through a few rebrandings over the past few years, namely (no pun intended) Sheraton, Moriah, and Leonardo. Unfortunately, with all the name changes did not come any major renovations. Finally, Herods has done a full scale renovation of the place, in an effort to restore the hotels 1960's era glory as befitting a Herods. The result is a definite improvement. All of the hotel's 223 rooms have been renovated (although some look "more renovated" than others). The Executive Garden Rooms with private pools sound particularly appealing. The indoor and outdoor pools have received some cosmetic updates, and the lobby and public spaces look beautiful, albeit not exactly to our tastes. The spa has also been completely redesigned. The hotel also built a new pier and wooden walkway on the beach. Reviews are very positive on TripAdvisor, with reviewers praising the rooms, service, and especially the food. Rates are a very reasonable $240 per night in a standard room for tonight. Still, though, we don't think that the Herods can quite compete with the Isrotel, which is still our #1 choice for the Dead Sea. UPDATE: AVOID THE EXECUTIVE GARDEN ROOMS Apparently, the so- called "Executive Garden With Pool", which offers "exclusive access to a private pool", is not so exclusive or so private either. As one reviewer writes, "We reserved a room with a private pool - be careful - it is private for our room and about 10 more, in a norrow [sic] pathway-pool. It is far from being private." The hotel confirms "You are correct. The swimming pool in front of the Garden room is shared amongst 16 Garden room guests.." That's pretty funny! Save your money and take a regular room. In other hotel news, the Royal Beach Tel Aviv has opened amidst much fanfare, and guests seem pretty happy with the new hotel!