Aju Ben Yehuda 42

The property has potential to be a lovely apartment or hotel, but it needs a lot of updating. Broken, uncovered electrical outlets, food left by previous tenants, TVs that don't work and badly scuffed walls needing paint all need attention. The elevator also breaks down at random. And if you pay Jonathan Hotel/apartment for breakfast, you have to walk a block or two to a satellite hotel to eat it. This is an apartment, not a hotel.

Our plans fell apart because of COVID, and we never got to stay. With our flights cancelled and entry to the country impossible without a mandatory two-week quarantine, none of this was within our control. The hotel has been extremely difficult to contact and work with, and refuses to refund any of the roughly $4,500 we paid for reservations for our large group. We managed to sort refunds with the airline and tour agency, and Abraham Tours was phenomenal, but the hotel won't budge. We asked them either to return the money or let our group change the reservation dates, but they refused. Based on how hard this place is to deal with, I can't recommend staying there.

Getting to the elevator means first climbing some stairs, which is baffling. There's a front desk, but no guarantee anyone will be there, and self check-in isn't possible. The apartments are tiny, with barely room to move, and some doors can't close because furniture blocks them. Mine had crooked chandeliers. It was very dirty and poorly cleaned, with hairs in one bed and my towel, and the towels smelled bad. Can't recommend it!

For a budget stay, this is a solid option if you won't be spending much time in the room. It's clean, with a small kitchen and a basic bathroom, and the lift reaches the upper floors. The central western Jerusalem location is especially handy. There's no breakfast, but plenty of nearby cafés make that easy, including some open on Shabbat. You can also arrange trips outside the city through reception.