Kiryat Anavim is a secular Zionist dream – started as a kibbutz in 1918 by Jews from Ukraine on a Judean hill close to Jerusalem, they cleared the land away rock by rock without air conditioning or tractors. Rocks covered so much that it was hard to see soil underneath. Over time they made a house for those ill to recover, then for soldiers to heal, and then a hotel that got fancier and fancier until they’re charging more than I’d like to admit we paid.

Situated atop a hill with a drive there-towards something like the drive to the Overlook hotel, in Israel style you arrive at a gate followed by a long, narrow parking lot will cars improperly parked along the side making it very difficult to get into the proper spots. Israelis have a lot of patience in parking lots for themselves and others. Grape vines all around the property (“cramim” means “vinyards” and the town, “Kiryat Anavim” means “grape town”) … it is a beautiful place.

Israel is apparently hurting for foreign tourism during the war (though things are rapidly returning). It seems that Israelis are also going abroad far less which is part of the reason the Israeli economy continues to do so well. Apparently, tourism to Israel was $50 billion a year while tourism by Israelis out of the country was $250 billion a year. This hotel seems to be where the money is going.

A place for everyone that wants a place for everyone

I had little idea of what to expect before going for our anniversary (wedding and aliyah) weekend. All I knew is there’s kosher food, a minyan, and a spa. It’s strange … something like Kutchers or the Raleigh back in the day without the kids and with activities limited to pool, spa, and some yoga-type classes. People walk around in white robes and the halls are filled with quotes from Shir HaShirim (song of songs).

It’s, at once, religious friendly and secular. There are mezuzahs on most doors, not all. Most guests are secular, though Shabbos keys are available for every room, the air conditioning has a Shabbos mode, and there’s a nice minyan attended by a very tiny minority of people and it’s in the miklot (shelter) disconnected from the main buildings clearly demonstrating the priorities of the hotel.

Shabbos mode air conditioning (disables the disabling of the air when a door is opened)

Food, as one would expect, is plentiful though ends at 11am on Shabbos and begins again only at 6:30pm. While dinner was fleshig / basari / meat and bentchers, grape juice, wine, and challah are available (not all in the same place), you’re sitting at small tables in very close proximity to everyone else, many of whom are not tznious and … well, this is interesting … a secular Jew in Israel sees other Jews making kiddush, walking up stairs to their room on Shabbos, and is eating only kosher food. It’s a mix of every type of Jew here and everyone gets along and is more than respectful. My wife and I were going to a jacuzzi and two guys beat us to it … we weren’t going to go in a jacuzzi as such and they seemed to know that. They offered to join others in the second jacuzzi so we, as a frum couple, could have the jacuzzi to ourselves. If you want to feel at home with your people, no matter how religious or not they are – and there’s an entire spectrum here – this is a great place for that.

Shabbos Issues

On the other side of things … “lunch” was really “breakfast” which went from 7am to 11am (last seating) so shul had to end accordingly. When they said “shachris is at 8am” they meant it. They were done by 10am … and then we’re having dairy for lunch … no cholent, though there was fish for the “baser v’dagim”. At the same time, it’s not a Shabbos atmosphere and it is. The food is warmed on hotplates and servers are preparing the food on dishes which they pass along on the hotplates. (I suppose like sefardim which do not require a separation between the hotplate and the dish.)

I have some shylas over a few things and, as such, didn’t eat a few things and hope to clarify with a Rav. Candle lighting is neither in the dining room or your room which, to my understanding, is problematic for Shabbos. It was interesting to see some completely secular looking women put a scarf over their head, light candles, and then head up to the dining room.

There’s no eruv between the hotel and the shul though there is an eruv within the hotel. The hotel staff had no idea what I was talking about though there’s a Rabbi / maschiagh tamidi on site to ask such questions to. Some kashrus questions as well for which I need to ask a Rav … I skipped those foods where I had questions.

It helps to speak English because, just as in America if you go to a hotel most of the workers speak only Spanish, in Israel, they speak only English … perfectly. Many of the workers are from Thailand and the Philippines and don’t know Hebrew. There were a few Arab workers, though not many, which is a shame because there are people living in Israel not even 10 miles away who could use the jobs and can’t get them anymore because the terrorists ruined it for everyone and they can no longer cross the boundary line.

To get into the dining room, you give your last name and room number and on Shabbos a non-Jew is typing this into the computer system. That’s not exactly what I want to see, nor the female singer on the keyboard in the lounge Friday night.

The food was plentiful, though nothing to write home about – just blog about. Various chicken, beef, milks, yogurts, fruits, salads, eggs, cakes, halva, dips and toppings, breads, pancakes, a few pastries, cereal, juices . . . very difficult not to eat too much. It was good; I just wouldn’t say it was great. At least, not for the price we’re paying.

The Rest of the Hotel

At the spa, where people are walking around in their robes, you can pay extra for “tipulim” – being “taken care of”, literally (it’s one of those verbs used for everything) … massages and waxes and that sort of thing … all extra and reserved in advance. They have three pools. Two are outdoors and one indoors. The indoor pool was barely being used and we had it to ourselves for enough time. Next to that was an amazing cedar wood sauna big enough for 10+ people though empty for us. Haven’t been in one since America, unless you count driving in the summer with the air off, which no one but myself will every understand. It’s more efficient than sitting in the non-existent saunas of Israel for 10 minutes.

While there are no kids, there are plenty of women who are pregnant, Israeli being the only OECD country with more than a replacement population. People are nice. People are quiet and pleasant. No one is yelling or having a ‘loud time’ as loud Americans like to do.

There’s “nowhere to go” outside though there is a nice large, enclosed area with many chairs that swing, chairs that don’t swing, trees, lilypads, and foliage. At the bar you can order drinks and food. The nachos and a bunch of stuff that goes with it wasn’t available, so I ordered the lesser nachos which was just ultra-processed chips dumped from a bag and two little things of sauce for $15. Not happy.

In the halls you can find a wine store with wine tasting (for more money … all kosher wine, I assume), jewelry store, barber with a fancy name, and gift shop where they sell this air infusion stuff that they have everywhere in the hotel.

Who are these Israelis with all this money to spend? I thought people have much less money here and isn’t there a war or something?

Conclusion

The juxtaposition between a hotel like this and renting a tent at a place without electricity in the desert is so stark, so Israeli, and so … only about an hour fifteen minutes away from each other. My Hebrew tutor asked me, “don’t they have all these things in America?” Kind of … if you’re willing to get on a flight for six hours and drive another three. Where I live, in about two hours I can be by a lake, walking through waterfalls, in a metropolis, in 2,000+ year old archeology, in a desert, and in the greatest yeshivas in the world.

It’s nice to try new things such as this hotel. It was fine … for me, not worth the price. For this much, next time I’d rather stay at the Dovid Citadel hotel or the like in Jerusalem and go to the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, Hurva, or Kotel with great food, places to go, more of a Shabbos atmosphere, and more inspiration.

The Entire Aliyah Diary

Arrival

01. Aug 19, 2024: Preparation In America
02. Aug 25, 2024: First Few Days
03. Aug 29, 2024: Moving In
62. July 17, 2025: I MADE IT

Cultural Adjustment Fun

Cultural Adjustment Difficulties

On The Roads

Shopping

11. Oct 13, 2024: Packages. (חבילות.)
34. Feb 17, 2025: Finding Obscure Things
41. Mar 23, 2025: New Shopping Habits
44. Apr 6, 2025: Pesach Shopping & Osher Ad

Government and Bureaucracy

Politics and Thought

Travel: South Israel

Travel: Central/North Israel

Travel: From Israel to …

54. June 4, 2025: Marseille and Avignon
66. Aug 11, 2025: Return to America 1
67. Aug 14, 2025: Return to America 2