Holy Land Hotel

My mum and I had a lovely time at Holy Land Hotel. We’d definitely come back on a future Jerusalem visit. The room was spacious and clean, with a beautiful view of Al-Aqsa. The staff were all really nice and helpful, and Faraz gave outstanding service. We enjoyed both breakfast and dinner. The flavours were spot on, with plenty of choices and variety. It’s about a five-minute walk to the Old City in general, and around 15 minutes to Al-Aqsa through Herod’s gate.

The breakfast was depressing for the price: just a few sachets of instant coffee and a few pieces of tomato and cucumber. It really wasn’t worth it. Our room faced the busy road by University of Jordan, so we constantly heard cars honking. When we asked to move rooms, the front desk said no, they were all the same. We also tried repeatedly to get a spare key because the two of us had separate schedules. Each time, reception said it was coming right up, but after two nights we gave up asking.

Mr Fawas, the manager, made us feel very welcome. We were disappointed that we couldn't get to the view, though, since that was apparently why we booked.

We ended up changing hotels after a stay where none of us slept well because of noisy tourists. Staff also came into our room once without asking. The rooms felt unclean, with stained curtains and towels every day, plus marked bedding that smelled strongly of chlorine. The bathroom door wouldn't shut properly, and the bath door wouldn't close at all. Even the bathroom bin was unhygienic, since you had to press it open by hand.