Israel Hotels Master Thread

[Ergel]

OU is not mehadrin according to rabbi weiner

What does it mean for a hechsher to be or not be mehadrin? Unless you just mean not reliable

[Emkay]

OU is not mehadrin according to rabbi weiner

I highly doubt he said those exact words though CMIIW.

[Yehuda25]

booked the prima palace with ur, they charged tax, any way to get it back?

anyone know?

[michael]

booked the prima palace with ur, they charged tax, any way to get it back?

How are you able to book the Prima Palace with UR? It shows me that only other Prima hotels can be booked with UR.

[Yehuda25]

How are you able to book the Prima Palace with UR? It shows me that only other Prima hotels can be booked with UR.

I've looked into it further, sometimes it's available, sometimes not.

[Denverite]

anyone know the cost of meals by prima palace over pesach? for sedarim too

I don’t know this hotel specifically but Seder meals in most hotels are $200+ pp and Shabbos and Yom Tov are around $100.

[michael]

I'm thinking of booking the Lev Yerushalayim over the Leonardo, both using Sapphire points, as the Lev is almost 1/3 of the price and is closer to Geula. I have enough point for both, but I'm not sure splurging for the Leonardo is worth it. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[travel-ing]

I'm thinking of booking the Lev Yerushalayim over the Leonardo, both using Sapphire points, as the Lev is almost 1/3 of the price and is closer to Geula. I have enough point for both, but I'm not sure splurging for the Leonardo is worth it. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

lev Yerushalyim is more like a 2 star and plaza a 4star

[ludmila]

lev Yerushalyim is more like a 2 star and plaza a 4star

+1

[michael]

lev Yerushalyim is more like a 2 star and plaza a 4star

Got it. They are both listed as rabbanut mehadrin, though I understand that there is a difference between different hotels as to what rabbanut mehadrin means. Does anyone have any info re the difference between these two?

[mendyt]

I'm thinking of booking the Lev Yerushalayim over the Leonardo, both using Sapphire points, as the Lev is almost 1/3 of the price and is closer to Geula. I have enough point for both, but I'm not sure splurging for the Leonardo is worth it. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Check out the new Leonardo Boutique
https://www.fattal-hotels.com/hotels_in_israel/jerusalem_hotels/leonardo_boutique_hotel_jerusalem/
Its new, closer to Geula and cheaper than the Plaza.  Food is also Rabanut Mehadrin

[Yehuda25]

booked the prima palace with ur, they charged tax, any way to get it back?

BUMP anyone know?

[yg99]

Don't know about Prima, but I had a similar charge by the Waldorf and upon checkout, they issued a credit.

[vanilla]

booked the prima palace with ur, they charged tax, any way to get it back?

Don't know about Prima, but I had a similar charge by the Waldorf and upon checkout, they issued a credit.

I also booked Prima Palace with UR and was charged tax.
IIRC it was about 14% (the new UR website is not showing the payment breakdown right now)

I will contact Chase to clarify and report back.

Aside from the Israeli 17% VAT that tourists are exempt from, is there some American tax when you book from the US?
Is it common practice for Chase UR (or anyone else) to charge that at the time of booking?

[Yordai Dooma]

Can anyone rate the following hotels in order of how nice they are, putting aside their Kashrus:

Leonardo plaza
Prima royale
Prima palace
Crowne plaza

Waldorf and citadel are sold out for the dates I'm looking for

[Yehuda25]

I also booked Prima Palace with UR and was charged tax.
IIRC it was about 14% (the new UR website is not showing the payment breakdown right now)

I will contact Chase to clarify and report back.

Aside from the Israeli 17% VAT that tourists are exempt from, is there some American tax when you book from the US?
Is it common practice for Chase UR (or anyone else) to charge that at the time of booking?

Let me know what chase says please.

[vanilla]

Let me know what chase says please.

Just spent 45 minutes on the phone with them, and they couldn't find an itemized breakdown of the charges.
They will email it to me when they get it from their hotel supplier/liaison.
They suggested I contact the hotel directly, which I did, and now awaiting their reply.
Will keep you posted...

[vanilla]

anyone know the cost of meals by prima palace over pesach? for sedarim too

I don't know about Pesach, but the Prima Palace charges 250 NIS per person, per Shabbos meal.

[vanilla]

Just spent 45 minutes on the phone with them, and they couldn't find an itemized breakdown of the charges.
They will email it to me when they get it from their hotel supplier/liaison.
They suggested I contact the hotel directly, which I did, and now awaiting their reply.
Will keep you posted...

Update:
The hotel refuses to provide any information, and refers me to the booking site =Chase.
Chase has yet to email me the breakdown.

Meanwhile, I remembered that as part of my paranoia I took screenshots when placing the order on Chase
Looks like they charged me about 14.5% for "Taxes & Fees".

Since It cant be the Israeli 17% VAT (which I shouldn't pay as a tourist), does anybody know what this is, and if it's legit?

[KBR]

Can I use my IHG free night certificate to book a room for an Israeli at the InterContinental David in Tel Aviv if I am not going to be there?