I paid NIS 2,000 a night for a vacation in Israel, and that's what I got in return

Yael Laor, like you, went on a Passover vacation and decided to pay thousands of shekels for two nights at "Selena Kinneret."

She did not expect to be accommodated at the "Wave of a Hostel in South America" ​​for about NIS 2,000 per night

Yael Laor

25/04/2022

Monday, 25 April 2022, 07:17 Updated: 07:50

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The renovated Gali Kinneret Hotel (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Editing: Nir Chen)

I could have continued this game on Instagram, with pictures of happy kids in the pool licking ice cream, but this time I was broken.

It was about the beginning of March, when I came to the realization that I had not closed any Passover holiday, and that the children were going to spend 10 days at home.

Just then, a sponsored promotion on Facebook popped up, announcing the opening of

.

It looks colorful, cool and promising.

With a private beach (with sand!) On the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee, a pool and well-equipped rooms.

More on Walla!

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To the full article

Looks colorful, cool and promising.

Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Needs improvement in cleanliness.

The buffet at Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

With this breakfast, "only" NIS 3,800 came out

Selena is a well-known global chain, and even last year we had a good experience at another group hotel in Kibbutz Beit Oren.

The ad also announced that on the occasion of the launch, a 20 percent discount will be given.

madness.

I went in to order, and thankfully I found that unlike many other places I checked before - there is a place.

Dizzy from the success, I tried to book a three-night vacation, and I immediately discovered that despite the running discount, the price reaches almost 6,000 shekels (!)

I landed on the ground and went for two nights.

With this breakfast, "only" NIS 3,800 came out.

It's quite a bit of money (understatement), but what's the alternative, I thought to myself, to climb all the freedom on the walls and chase after attractions?

Selena, as mentioned, is a successful global network.

Around the world they are supposed to be the young, cool, sane and cheap option for a holiday for locals and tourists.

In practice, in the country as in the country - it is not cheap.

Instead, in many ways you get NIS 2,000 per night, a place to stay in a Vibe hostel in South America.

"Fortunately, I discovered that unlike many other places I checked - there is a place. Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Suddenly the food stand looked to me like a five-star buffet.

Eggshells on the floor (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

The machine "sold" a cup of coffee for 14 shekels

Especially when it comes to breakfast.

Breakfast is what broke me - it is served on the hotel reception desk, on a cheap al-Bad map, which quickly got dirty.

While serving it no one bothered to clean around, which created a particularly filthy look.

When I saw what it looked like I decided to give up food and settle for coffee.

However, the professional coffee machine that was on site did not provide coffee for guests who paid the best of their money for bed and breakfast (half an hour later, however, it "sold" a cup of coffee for NIS 14 to anyone interested).

When I asked, they sent me upstairs, to make myself coffee in a chameleon Nespresso machine with the cheapest capsules on the market.

The top floor is a kind of common area, where there is also a common kitchen available to guests.

Nice idea?

In practice this seems horrible.

Two employees of the place are washing dishes, the water is flooding all the marble, the coffee machine stand is filthy and suddenly the food stand looked to me like a five star buffet.

Even when I tried to overcome the disgust, I found that the "chip" capsules provided there just ran out, as did the regular milk (yes, there are more people around us who drink regular milk).

I went to the reception, told them what the situation was, said they would send someone to clean and renew the inventory.

I returned a quarter of an hour later, the situation remained the same, and I gave up.

The next day, by the way, the same story.

And it was not that there was any juice, or other soft drink.

Just nothing.

Is orange juice at breakfast an excessive requirement?

Isn't that something that NIS 2,000 a night buys today?

Do not worry, my kids were not left thirsty, I paid my best money for a glass of industrial orange juice in the pool.

I understood the method.

Served at the hotel reception, on a cheap al-Bad map.

Breakfast at Selena (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

The water floods all the marble.

The coffee stand at Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Breakfast preparation stand at Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Everyone who passes by, peeks into your room

And it's not just breakfast or coffee, these are the small rooms, modern though, but very minimal, without a balcony.

Such that it is not possible to open a window or a curtain, as they face a narrow corridor, where everyone who passes by, peeks into the room.

NIS 2,000 per night.

It turns out that in terms of local vacations in Israel, it no longer buys you a vacation who knows what.

True, there are more burning and absurd things to deal with first in our country.

The cost of living pervades everything, but I looked around, those who were there in the hotel are not rich people.

They are people like us, the middle class of course, who work from morning to evening, maneuvering between work and raising children, who in total asked out of a long ten-day vacation, three full days to break a routine.

People who spend more than a quarter of a monthly salary, on a two-night vacation, and even decent coffee do not get it.

Very minimal, no balcony.

Room in Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Guests walking down the hall peek into your room (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Selena Kinneret (Photo: Walla !, Yael Laor)

Selena of course are not the only ones, try to vacation in the country for less - every collective guest house today charges such prices, and everyone is trying to squeeze the lemon, which is us, to the end.

In one of these, for example, you will be charged an additional fee for refilling capsules for the coffee machine in the room.

So does a proper vacation in the country remain the domain of only the richest hotels?

NIS 3,500 for a wild hotel in the Golan Heights?

And more than twice as much as the Six Senses Hotel at dawn, and we were left with it?

Leftovers?

Breakfast leftovers?

And maybe this token that fell on quite a few people a long time ago, the queues at the Ben Gurion Airport last Passover, at the border crossing with Jordan and at the border crossing with Sinai finally fell on me as well: a vacation in Israel is probably no longer for me

"Due to high demand, Selena Kinneret opened right during the busy holidays. We are aware of the birth cords and of course work to improve the experience. As for the described kitchen, it is a shared kitchen that works for guests' well-being, cooking and storing food and drink. It is mentioned that Selena's many locations around the world are designed, among other things, to provide a community and functional hospitality experience, and respectively include shared work spaces, yoga rooms, Pilates, lectures, performances and more, along with shared kitchens for guests who want it (the kitchen ".

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