Royal Jerusalem

The restaurant was the bright spot, the food was good and service there was great. The rooms, though, were very dated, and the sheets had stain spots. Our three-single-bed room had just two actual beds and a small, uneven sofa. The bathroom didn't have enough towels for three people. When we came back after being out for the day, the window had been left open. With no netting, mosquitoes got in and we had to spray the room with bug spray.

The lift was the most frightening part. I was trapped inside with a full group for 15 minutes, with no power or air, and it was getting dangerous as fresh air ran low. We kept pressing the alarm, but no one responded. Luckily the system restarted and took us to a random floor. I went down to report it, but they ignored me and didn't shut the lift down. The next day I asked what they were doing about this serious safety risk and got ignored again. At checkout, Mohammed at reception said he knew nothing and shrugged it off. This hotel clearly doesn't care about the safety of international visitors. Our room also had a terrible smell, so we had to move. They asked if spraying it would help. The carpets were filthy and disgusting too. Stay away, this place is dirty and a major health hazard. It isn't worth the risk.

Dinner was good, but there were no fruit choices except watermelon, and I wish they'd offer more healthy dishes. The place itself is old, with dirty carpets and elevators. I also had to wipe down the table before I could use it.

We didn't get a room until 2:30 AM, and only after the hotel CEO, our Birthright team, major UJA donors, and Israel Outdoors got on the phone to make staff deal with it. After all that, the room was tiny and old-fashioned, with uncomfortable beds. I've traveled quite a bit and never seen such unprofessional, inhospitable service. Seriously, run from this place. Our group was on the way there around 6:30 when we learned the rooms weren't ready, despite checkout being at 11 AM. We arrived at 8:30 and still had to wait. Two hours later we were told rooms were available, but the bathrooms were dirty and the sheets weren't clean. Staff were rude to our trip leaders while they tried to sort things out. They repeatedly claimed someone had cleaned, but people went upstairs and came back reporting problems. There were bloody sheets, boogers, and rooms that still held other guests' belongings. One young girl found four employees hanging out on her bed and smoking in her supposedly clean room.