Vert Lagoon Netanya By AFI Hotels

A well kept, high end hotel with a nicely decorated lobby and a calm feel. It works well for business meetings. The coffee bar is pleasant, though there's not a huge range of food.

The rooms are lovely, modern, and look out over the sea. There's an outdoor infinity pool and, one level below, a smaller, quieter pool described as a 'foot bath'. We found the areas around both pools a bit average.

The breakfast had a huge selection and was the best part of my stay at Vert. The hotel is right by the beach, and our room was high up with an excellent view. There's also a bar, lounge, and restaurant on an upper floor, with a lively nightclub sort of feel. The food there was generally good. The room itself was excellent. The bed was comfortable and clean, the bathroom was spotless, and the hot water and toilet worked well. The heating and AC ran quietly, with clean air. I liked having a patio and a place to sit and look at the beach. The windows were spotless, the patio door opened and closed easily, the TV had smart options like YouTube, and the Wi-Fi worked very well. I only wish the shower had a tub too. Service was lacking. At check-in I waited five minutes while two front desk staff weren't helping anyone, until one finally asked what I needed. At breakfast, no staff showed up for five minutes, so I walked in; then a guy followed me to ask my room number so I could pay for the meal. I'd skip the hotel's paid parking lot. I found plenty of free street parking nearby, around the roundabout areas.

The staff were polite and helpful, and I appreciated the convenient underground parking. Even so, after two nights in two rooms with my partner and two kids, I can't see myself recommending this hotel, especially having stayed at many places around Israel. We'd booked after friends spoke well of it. The pool has a great idea behind it, an elevated infinity edge looking over the sea, but the area felt poorly managed. There were very few seats, so people were packed together on a small wooden deck with little shade. The pool was shallow, about 1.15m at its deepest, and had no shade. Guests smoked despite the “No Smoking” signs. I had to find staff and ask each time. They responded, but I expected them to enforce the rule without being prompted. After dealing with it repeatedly, I gave up, and it spoiled the atmosphere. Our rooms also had maintenance problems. One was missing its TV remote; after it was replaced, reception was still bad and needed another fix. The window wouldn't shut properly, so with the hotel near the sea we could hear strong wind coming through. A maintenance person made a quick repair but said a proper seal would need more serious work. In the other room, the faucet pressure was weak and the shower head splashed water everywhere. I reported it, but it wasn't fully fixed during our stay. There were no water bottles in the rooms either, a small omission that stands out since many Israeli hotels provide them by default. The food was okay, with some good dishes and some less so, but I've eaten much better at other Israeli hotels. On weekends and holidays, two elevators switch to “Sabbath mode,” leaving the others congested and making it hard to move between floors at busy times. With the upkeep issues, the pool management, the lack of proactive attention to smoking, and the missing small touches, I wouldn't return.