Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Galilion Resort Yesod Hamaala

We've been to Yesod Hama'ala in northern Israel a few times over the years. Once, we even spent the night there at the town's only option, the super no-frills Savyonei Hagalil Hotel, which was originally built as the only Israeli outpost of ultra-budget Accor hotel chain Etap. But Etap has long since left the country, and in all honestly, the Savyonei Hagalil leaves little desire to return to the area. However, a Jerusalem Post article from a few weeks ago alerted us to the recent opening of another hotel in the area, the Galilion Hotel. Because the Post's review was so overwhelmingly (and perhaps predictably) positive, we thought we'd do some looking into this hotel for the benefit of our readers. Here are our thoughts: We're loving the idea of a village-style grouping of different buildings, rather than a single monumental structure. Here, the 120 rooms and suites are grouped into small two-story buildings, and there's a separate convention center, spa, and lobby, along with an adjacent shopping center and farmer's market. The inspiration was clearly an Italian village, and designers took that inspiration very literally in the guestrooms, with wallpaper depicting none other than a quaint Tuscany-esque village. It's certainty a bold move, although we must say that it's not really our taste, especially alongside rather standard light wood furnishings and a red bedspread that clashes with the wallpaper. The hotel's secondary theme is birds, likely referencing the nearby Hula Lake through which pass over 500 million migrating birds annually. You'll find bird accent tiles in the otherwise drab bathrooms, bird images in the guestrooms, and decorative birds throughout the property. In our minds, the hotel really shines on the exterior, with landscaped, manicured lawns and gardens, a gorgeous (and really large) outdoor pool, and fountains dotted throughout. Another nice touch is the outdoor screening of movies by the pool. We're not surprised that reviewers on TripAdvisor have found the service to be lacking, with rude and unhelpful staff members at times. To us, this is still very much an Israeli kibbutz hotel, even if it's newer and better looking than most. We'd love to see a bigger chain come over and whip this property into shape. Until then, we found rates for $240 a night, including breakfast, for next month.