Leonardo Plaza Netanya, Brown Beach House, and Sir Hotels

Another month, another new hotel. This time, though, we have some tipsters to thank. HotelChatter (hotelchatter.com) first alerted us to the Sir Hotel in Tel Aviv. And, an anonymous comment on this blog told us about Brown Beach House. Thanks guys! The Leonardo Netanya, though, is all us. And it's the only one of the three that's open. So we'll start with it. Heralded as "the only luxury hotel in the Sharon region", the newly-opened hotel has 151 beautifully decorated rooms, if we do say so ourselves. Headboards are covered with a large scale beach and ocean scenes, while opposite it wood panels and lime green drawers add texture and color to the beige- heavy design. The hotel is located near Independence Square in the heart of Netanya (read: noisy), unlike the Ramada and the Island Suites, which are more removed from the town. Some rooms even have oversized terraces. In addition to amenities like free WiFi (free Wifi!), the hotel also offers a dining room, a fitness center, large sclae meeting facilities, and a drop-dead gorgeous rooftop pool. Reviews seem pretty positive, although apparently the service and the food could use some improvement. Rates are amazingly affordable, starting at $119 for a Deluxe Room. We'll take two. Or actually, we'll take a suite. Moving on, the ever-popular Brown Hotel TLV (winner of IsraelGuest's Best Rooms award) is bringing their hip luxury brand beachside. The hotel will be small, with just forty rooms and suites. Don't fear, because plenty of design will be packed into those rooms. Renderings show wild black and white carpet, retro lighting, mustard accents, and contemporary four poster beds. We're loving the sleek luxury of the marble bathrooms as well. The hotel will also have an "Urban Beach" indoor lounge (we got no idea, either), a restaurant, and a spa. Early opening rates start at $195, but we won't be surprised if they shoot up to the $300+ range like Brown TLV in the summer. And lastly, there's Sir Hotels, a new brand designed for the "new breed of upper class, individuals who have all the trappings of aristocracy but none of the pretensions." Whatever that means. They're opening in Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Tel Aviv, all in central locations. The website is full of taglines, like "social gathering places in vibrant cultural neighbourhoods where travellers meet the locals." But real, useful information (like opening dates) and renderings are disappointingly missing. All of the hotels are designed by the Israeli firm of Baranowitz Kronenberg, meaning that they will likely share the same sexy, rustic-modern look as the Sir Albert in Amsterdam (yes, each hotel has a name. The Tel Aviv one is Sir Benjamin). Even if we don't have the trappings of aristocracy, we're looking forward to this one.