nemloc

There's a Sheraton and Le Meridien at the Dead Sea in Israel. Anyone have any recent first hand experience with either property? Searching the forum came up with one mention from a few years ago of the Sheraton being a bad experience but had no details.
I'm looking to book a few days in the area next month and figured I'd check if it's worth trying one of these two properties or going with another chain.
Thanks.

rgm18

i stayed in the sheraton last march and they werent great. besides the fact that the hotel is sort of run down and my sheets were ripped and stained, they gave almost no plat recognition cept a fruit plate (no upgrade, no lounge, no free breakfast). for a cat 1, it was fine i guess, though at that time, sheraton jerusalem was also cat 1 and was much better quality.

my brother stayed at the meridien on a paid stay in the summer, before they were part of spg, and loved the hotel, though i cant say anything about the plat benefits yet...

when my bro booked, the rates for meridien were higher than the sheraton, so im thinking the value at cat 1 for redemption for the meridien is better...

r

rgm18

food @ meridien is great according to my brother.
i didnt eat at the sheraton. i went to a nearby stripmall for falafel.
the food options are quite limited in that area (ein bokek), so eating in the hotels is one of the few options.

BCH

My friends stayed at LeMeridien Dead Sea and loved it!!!

nemloc

I checked out the Le Meridien Dead Sea and it seems that they don't have an SPG50 rate according to the SPG CSR as well as charge differently whether it's 1 person or 2 people in the room. I haven't seen that done in US hotels. Is that normal in the rest of the world? in all Le Meridiens?

Since my wife is joining me for part of the stay I'll have to see how they charge for the 'extra' person on my king bed.

craz

the LeMeridien was Built as the Hyatt Regency. Its IMHO the best Hotel in that area and well worth the Pts!! Its not on the Sea as the Sheraton is, but across the street from it (theres only 1 street in the Place (not really a town per se as I dont believe theres a single residentual house to be seen). Like most Hotels not on the Water side theres usually a Golf cart or 2 to Shuttle the Guests back and forth.

yosithezet

We stayed at Le Meridien David (the old Hyatt) at the Dead Sea this past weekend. We stayed on points (2000 for Thursday night and 3000 for Friday night). Checkout at most Israeli hotels on Saturday is after the end of Shabbat so 7-9PM.

The room was ok. Had a nice view of the Dead Sea which I think all rooms have. The mattress has seen firmer days and the carpet had a large iron imprint in it but all in all it was ok. The television was a bit small, I think maybe a 17" screen or 22" max.

The service was not great. They only replaced towels, restocked the soap and made the bed. They never replaced used glasses or coffee mugs with clean ones. We called and asked for clean coffee mugs and they brought water glasses. We tried to get clean mugs from the cart being used to service the rooms but they didn't have any. We drank our coffee in the glasses. The next day we called and asked for more instant coffee, as that was also no replenished, and clean mugs. We got the coffee and one mug.

The minibar was empty which was great since it meant we could head to the minimarket and stock up on food and drink. This came in handy as the breakfast situation was a bit odd. The room service menu said Continental Breakfast for NIS 34, Israeli Breakfast (2 eggs, salad, bread) for NIS 52. The breakfast buffet in the restaurant was priced at NIS 75. We figured we'd get one Continental and one Israeli and we'd be happy as clams. Upon calling room service we were told that the Continental was indeed NIS 34 but the Israeli would cost us NIS 75 + NIS 52. Why is this? Well the Israeli consists of things coming from the Buffet so they need to charge us for the Buffet and then charge us for the Room service version on top of that. We passed and just went for the Buffet one morning and cornflakes the other morning. The Buffet had delicious fish and cheeses and breads. It also had really bad powdered scrambled eggs and whatnot.

I don't want it to sound like it was all bad. It was pretty much as we expected it to be. We weren't there for the service so much as for the pools and spa and just relaxation. The main swimming pool was very nice. There were plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas and the water was really divine. The poolside restaurant was typically priced. Friday afternoon we got really good schnitzel (breaded chicken nuggets) and a passable hamburger, both with fries and a can of soda, for NIS 35 each. On Saturday we got cholent with three mini cobs of corn, rice and a can of soda for NIS 49. The portions of all of the above were huge hence the second day we grabbed just one meal.

My wife went to the spa for a mud wrap and a crystal oil massage. She came away happy enough although the masseur's Hebrew wasn't all that good. Each time she asked him to explain something he said he got kind of defensive and repeated the same thing a bit more forcefully. That said she wasn't really there for an educational experience but for the treatment. The treatment was about NIS240 with the 20% discount for getting it in the morning. Entrance for me to the spa was NIS35. The spa has a nice looking gym, sauna, steam room, 2 jacuzzis and two rather large pools filled with Dead Sea water. The oily, salty Dead Sea water isn't realllly my cup of tea but when in Rome... There was also plenty of tea available at the spa and water with ice was available at the pool, the spa, the lobby, all over the place.

We also went to the Dead Sea itself. It was about a 10 minute walk but there was also a van every 20 minutes though we didn't notice it.

The key card came with an insert stating that we could get all sorts of 15% off discounts at their sister hotel the Golden Tulip (both owned by the Fattael chain). We walked about 40 minutes Friday night figuring we'd grab a bite at their Irish Pub or go bowling. When we arrived we found that the whole hotel had been rented out by an ultra-orthodox Jewish group and so was closed to the general public. Would have been nice if they had a sign at Le Meridien since they did have this discount advertised but chances are we'd not have noticed. In fact had we asked at the front desk I'd bet they wouldn't have known what was going on at the other hotel. Next time we'll call ahead.

All in all it was an enjoyable time and a typical mid-range Israeli hotel experience. We'll likely burn some more SPG points there in October with the kids. I think that it is typical of the hotels in that area and it is probably at the high end of the middle range of hotels there. It appears that some of the hotels (Golden Tulip, Caeser, Crowne Plaza) have upgraded themselves and are trying to pitch themselves as a higher end option in the area. We weren't inside of them so can't give a true assessment.

ctownflyer

I'm at the Le Meridian Dead Sea right now and I'm having one of the worst hotel experiences that I've ever encountered. I was hoping to switch to the Sheraton.

Oh well...

craz

youre the 1st person to ever tell me they didnt like the LeM, and I know a large number of people who have stayed there and go back ever time they are in Israel.

But to each their own

ctownflyer

I honestly cannot believe that I'm the first!

The hotel has way too many rooms for the staff on hand.

-Check-in took nearly an hour-there were about 30 people in line with just 2 people working the counter!

-A simple task like getting an elevator down to the lobby literally took 20 minutes this morning. There were over a dozen people on my floor trying to squeeze on each full elevator that stopped at our floor. When I finally did get on an elevator it stopped on every single floor, and each of those floors had many anguished people trying to get down.

-The shower in my room had a clogged drain and a broken door seal so the bathroom is flooded with 2 inches of water, and nobody at the hotel seems to care to solve the problem.

-Getting some extra blankets and pillows took nearly 2 hours, 4 phone calls, and 2 visits to the front desk before they finally arrived.

This is the 5th SPG hotel in Israel that I've stayed at in the past 2 weeks, and none of the other ones were even close to the absolute ineptness and indifference of the management of this place.

craz

Seems you hit the JackPot!

as for check-in was there a group checking in all everyone was on their own? I found no matter the Hotel that when theres agroup checking in Forget about everything, also at a Resort area such as the DS I generally find most peopel will be there trying to check-in before the official check-in time.

As for the Els I find thats the case at any Hotel in Isreal especially during the Breakfast times, where its a Buffet, everyone will be trying to get to Breakfast at the same time. Thats why I usually stay on a Low floor even thou Im a Plat, this way I dont mind walking down the 3 stories of stairs.and this is in 5* Hotles with at least 4 Els

No excuse on the Blankets and Pillows taking so long, as for the bathroom that too should have been taken care of , but being that Ein Bokek is in the middle of no where with no Residental area near by, its not too easy to simply call in outside help when things hit the fan. Im not saying its OK but thats the sit down there.

yossimills

I've stayed at the Sheraton Dead Sea in the past, and I noted at the time that the whole area of Ein Boqek is a little worn and frayed at the edges. No matter - one goes for the sea and spa experience. So, a couple of days after my wedding in the Sheraton Plaza Jerusalem, we headed off to the LeMeridien Dead Sea for a relaxing, 1-night getaway.

We arrived fairly late - perhaps 12am - to a fairly quiet period in the hotel. The first thing that caught my attention was the lobby - plenty of open space, with an ultra-high ceiling, and balconies up to the roof. The lights dropped about 100' from the ceiling. The staircases down to the spa and dining room swept around beautifully. "Aha," I thought, mentally comparing this with the rather more modest Sheraton down the road, "I can't wait to see the rooms!".

Check in was a strange procedue. We'd had a friend drive us down (I supplied his room), and so were expecting two rooms. Knowing that it was a honeymoon stay, they'd promised something nice for me. I was quite surprised that both rooms were next to each other (1023 & 1024), and the clerk told me that they were the same grade - "just choose either one" is what he said. He also said that there's no 4pm check-out - he'd give us until 1pm. I figured I'd ask in the morning.

Okaaay... Perhaps I expected too much? Perhaps they were both special rooms/suites? At any rate, we went up, and tried the keys... Nada. We trekked back down 10 floors and across the lobby, and got new keys, then randomly chose a room.

Well, the room we chose was a suite, and the other one was the adjoining "normal" room. Ok - so the desk clerk was not informed. We can live with that.

The first thing that struck me about the room is the "unfinished" look. It went beyond Spartan for a hotel. There were the functional things such as TVs, beds, etc. but was otherwise bare. There was an empty space where the minibar should've been, a couple of other empty units for who-knows-what, and... not much else. That said, the bathroom was spacious and well stocked, but that was it.

The "living room" was likewise Spartan, and the sofabed was ratty and falling to bits, and the kitchen seemed half-finished. In fact, the whole suite seemed as if the builders left 2 weeks before completion, and someone had moved some 2nd hand furniture in.

Still, no matter.

The balconies made up for much of the room. Some might find the view boring, but I love the mountains to one side, and the Dead Sea/Jordan to the other side. The room had two balconies, and it was a pleasure to sit out there.

We pressed the button on the phone for Room Service... Nothing. I don't think that the phone was programmed properly. So I called down to Reception, which rang out. Constantly. We went down to the reception and asked about room service. We were given a number to dial. We dialled it, and got no response. We were then informed that "between 1am and 1:30am there is no Room Service". Okaaay... A bit random, but whatever. Especially since the hotel boasted "Olives - Open until Dawn" (or something - it's actually closed for the season).

Beds were adequately comfortable - no complaints there.

Breakfast was... huge. I'm quite impressed by the variety offered, and the level of service for breakfast. (Well, the guy at the salad bar left for a while, so I got behind the bar and mixed it myself). Althought I didn't stay for dinner later, it seemed an awesome buffet... The seating plan for breakfast seemed to allow for a huge number of guests, nd despite being a little cafeteria-style, is quite tasteful and pleasant.

On my way up, I begged and scrounged a late check-out. We got to 3pm instead of 11am. We checked out the spa facilities, and found it to be mostly full of senior Russians. In fact, about 30% of the guests seemed to be Russian, and above 50.

At about 1pm, the key stopped wmorking. I went down and got it reactivated. When I came back... The Cleaners came.

This wizend Russian woman wanted to clean the room. I told her that I'd like her to please come back after 3pm, when I checkedout. The sick little old nanny-goat BARGED IN TO MY ROOM, PICKED UP THE PHONE, AND DIALLED DOWN!!! She then came out, grunted, and left.

At about 1:30pm, The Cleaners returned - the shrew and a gaggle of about 3-4 cleaning girls. They yapped and yapped incessantly outside the room until 2:55pm, when we left. And when we did leave... She yelped "Go, girls!" (in Hebrew) and they descended on the room like a flock of harpies.

Checkout was seamless and painless, although I was particular to include the NIS700 for the spa on the final bill, otherwise I wouldn't get the Starpoints. He then told me that if I was paying Amex, I'd need to be billed in NIS, not USD. It seemed to work out slightly cheaper, so I didn't complain.

The Spa was lovely. Not necessarily tasteful, or luxurious, but the Dead Sea water was great, the Jacuzzis strong, the steam room and sauna at just the right temperature... And the treatments professional and relaxing. Unfortunately, use of the Sulphur Pool is not included in the rest of the Spa entry, which they forgot to mention when we were paying, so we didn't end up using it.

Unfortunately, the weather did not lend itself to the use of the outdoor facilities, but they looked wonderful, too.

The only other issue was that the stay didn't post. And when I contacted SPG about it, they had absolutely no record of the stay, whatsoever (unlike other stays that didn't post). I'm convinced that some Israeli hotels are operating a scam with regard to Starpoints and stays posting - I just can't understand why I always seem to have problems there.

dick tracy

I stayed with the family in early August and was very happy. As PLT we were upgraded to a suite on the floor with the lounge. The manager on duty came out and greeted us personally while we were checking in.
The Dead Sea is a 5 minute walk from the front door so no need to take the tram. The pool as a lot of fun for the kids after a soak in the sea.
We did not eat in the restaurants since we were there on points(hopefully one day this will change). The shopping center down the road was fine to get water, dinner for the kids and some great salads for us.
We even went there for breakfast after our climb up Masada.
Overall we were surprised especially after reading all the reviews before we went.

yosithezet

Can you clarify? Are you talking about the Le Meridien property at the Dead Sea? I'm assuming you are since the Sheraton is no longer part of SPG.

dick tracy

Sorry, yes the Meridien property.