The Vera
Affable owner Danny Tamari is passionate about all his city has to offer, which he’s infused in every industrial-chic inch of The Vera. Artisans from nearby Levinsky Market have handmade everything – the contemporary furniture, the lighting, the sculptural brass installation behind reception, the bedding in the minimal rooms. The help-yourself fridge is all Israeli wines (no longer a Friends joke), and The Vera’s bedside magazine shares insider tips from savvy locals, to help guests get a truly authentic stay and experience the best of Tel Aviv like a native – and for remarkable value. Don’t miss sunrise yoga on the rooftop.
The Vera, 27 Lilienblum; theverahotel.com
Hotel Montefiore
This listed mansion, built in the eclectic style in the 1920s, has gone from family home to art gallery to, finally, handsome hotel. It was the city’s first luxury boutique property and still one of its most delightful, its Art Deco curves, wrought-iron balustrades and peaches-and-cream exterior easy on the British traveller’s eye after so much functionalist concrete. The bar and French-Vietnamese fusion brasserie have echoes of its ’20s origins, in the potted palms and shuttered French windows, and pulls in a well-heeled crowd of locals and international visitors. Twelve bedrooms are smart in neutrals, with full bookshelves stacked up to the high ceilings, and some with balconies overlooking the vibrant heart of the city.
Hotel Montefiore, 36 Montefiore Street; hotelmontefiore.co.il
The Ruby
An architect’s rough-lux renovation of a century-old Eclectic building is right at home in the boho-chic neighbourhood of Neve Tzedek. Original timber boards and Eclectic 1920s tiles make interesting floors; walls are left artfully raw-plastered or white-rendered, a gallery backdrop for the spare Mid-century-modern furniture. It’s more of a home-from-home than a hotel – there are 18 rooms and communal living spaces and a full kitchen. There’s no restaurant, but just beyond its doors there are plenty of great options.
The Ruby Tel Aviv, 11 Yehuda Halevi, Neve Tzedek; rubytelaviv.com/en
