Vert Dead Sea By AFI Hotels

There was plenty to enjoy, and we even wanted to stay another night, but the hotel was full. My husband and I spent one night at the Vert. Our room didn't have a balcony, but the staff kindly moved us to one that did, and the front desk gave us free drink vouchers while we waited. Dinner and breakfast were sufficient, though not the best we've had in Israel. The huge pool area is perfectly placed for getting to the Dead Sea. The noise was a problem for an adults' getaway. Kids were running and yelling in the corridors by the rooms until midnight, and the large dining room was noisy too, with children running around in a way that could be dangerous, especially for elderly guests. The noise made a romantic stay difficult. With a hotel this large, adult-only floors would help, and the dining room could have a separate adults-only area.

The view is to die for, since the hotel sits right on the shore. But the rooms are run down and badly need refurbishment. The lifts don't work properly, the pool is cold, and the buffet is a bit meh. The walls and doors don't insulate well, so you hear the corridor and neighboring rooms. There's basically nothing for young kids to do, either. Surely heating the pool for a few thousand kWh a year wouldn't make much difference to the running costs of an entire hotel.

The hotel itself is nice, and the rooms were clean, but service was lacking. We never got bathrobes. We asked the cleaner for extra coffee pods and were told they'd be brought to us, but none arrived. A friend in another room had a toilet problem, and when she raised it at reception, they said that was just how it should be. They didn't even send anyone to check.

We liked the hotel so much after our first night that we added a second. Everyone was very pleasant, the room was spotless at check-in, and we loved the balcony view. Breakfast and dinner buffets had great choices, and it was so convenient to walk straight out to the beach. The spa was under construction, but it didn't bother us during our stay. Parking on-site is very limited, as we'd read beforehand. There's paid street parking out front, plus a free lot they can direct you to, with a ride back to the hotel. It's close enough to walk, though. It would help if those directions were included in the check-in handout or the pre-registration email. We loved our stay and will definitely return next time we're here.