Shamai Suites Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s center is right there, with plenty of restaurants nearby, and there’s a self-catering kitchen plus a convenience store close by. It’s a good budget option, especially if you don’t have a car. Parking is very hard to find, though.

We liked it so much that my boyfriend and I extended our stay three times. The rooms are spacious, and I think they all have balconies. We paid about $100 a night. Anastasia and Lidia were especially welcoming, helpful, and accommodating. There’s a complimentary bottle of water, mezuzzahs on both the room and bedroom doors, and they cleaned our room even during Shabbat. It’s right by Ben Yehuda and Pizza Hut, handy for late-night food or shopping without a long trip back in the dark.

Our first room had a string of problems: no hot water, a fridge that barely worked, and a bathroom door with a broken handle, among other things. They moved us to another room without much hassle, and after that our stay was great.

While we were out walking around the city, they carried out construction in our room, two days in a row. Each time we came back to a room dirtier than before. The gray towels seemed to match the state of the room.