Looking for a Hotel in Tel Aviv? Why not Boutique it?!

The Diaghilev Live Art Boutique Hotel in Tel Aviv, Photo Courtesy of their website. 

Looking for hotels in in Tel Aviv? I'm not surprised. The tourist season and summer heat are on in full force.  June 21st has come and gone, bringing with it buses of birthright groups, throngs of tourists, long summer days and notorious Tel Aviv humidity.

 So if you're planning on heading to the white city this summer, you might want to consider upgrading from a hostel or basic hotel in Tel Aviv to one of the clean, cool and comfortable Tel Aviv boutique hotels just featured in yesterday's Ynet travel section. Now I can't even afford air conditioning in my dinky apartment in south Tel Aviv. But you tourists are on vacation and I don't know anything that tourists like more than the feeling that they are really on vacation.

This feeling is usually catalyzed by careless spending on totally awesome but absolutely unnecessary amenities which I am telling you you should definitely do because that feeling I'm talking about, that vacation feeling...it's fleeting and incredibly difficult to attain.

A montage of some of the fabulous Tel Aviv hotels you'll read about if you don't get bored and stop here

 To help you out, Ynet's article highlighted the ritziest of the ritzy Tel Aviv boutique hotels with personalized service and an intimate feel, but bemoans the high prices. Their review of what they call the "Tel Aviv's best boutique hotels" includes rooms which can cost guests up to $560 for two per night.

Sadly, I have not been lucky enough to set foot in even one of the boutique hotels mentioned on their list which includes:

•  The Neve Tzedek Hotel situated in the heart of Tel Aviv's oldest now turned artsy-chic neighborhood
•  The Gordon Hotel & Lounge situated right Tel Aviv's most popular coast
•  The Brown Hotel TLV located smack in the TLV center
•  TheVarsano Hotel which is more like a swanky Bed and Breakfast
•  Hotel Montefiore known for Tel Avivians for its beautiful architectural facade and fantastic restaurant
• and The Alexander Suites Hotel which I don't really know why they included since it has more than sixty rooms, which makes it significantly less intimate, and also a surprisingly crappy website.  But I guess their "Diamond Suite"  which is actually the biggest hotel suite in Israel boosted it to the top. 

While the article did a good job of instilling in me an almost visceral desire to be filthy rich, I did feel a pinch of  surprise when I reached the end and realized that they left out one of the most exciting, most unique and trendiest boutique hotels I know of: The Diaghilev Live Art Boutique Hotel. The Diaghilev is one of two well known Art boutique hotel s in TLV, the second being the aptly named Artplus Hotel which comes up first on a google search for Tel Aviv art hotel. But really, it shouldn't, since the Diaghilev is way cooler and offers way more interesting exhibitions.

Photo Courtesy of the Diaghilev Facebook Page

 Photo Courtesy of the Diaghilev Facebook Page

You'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about if you take a look at the Diaghilev Facebook page. Some of their more recent exhibits have been promoted by the Goethe Institue including the most recent  German Vitra Design Museum exhibit "100 miniatures of classical seats". Check out some more photos of the exhibit here.

In short, there are some fantastic places to stay if you are looking to spend some money on a luxury suite.
If not, you'll have to wait till my next post outlining the best hostels for tourists on a budget! Stay tuned, there's more to come....