Everything about the Intercontinental David is big. We couldn’t help but notice this when we checked in, along with a reassuring sense of old world grandeur and the hum of a well-oiled machine working at peak performance. The lobby is a vast atrium that could fit a cruise liner through it. The hotel’s sprawling bar and restaurant area sat between enormous columns, a nod to the city’s Bauhaus-fame, but upscaled by about a thousand percent.
Our room was also huge and airy with massive floor-to-ceiling windows giving a great sense of space. It also afforded a spectacular view of the beach, and if your room happens to be on the other side to ours, the city.
But where the hotel scores top-marks is in its location. Sure, it helps that Tel Aviv is a compact city, but it’s nice to be able to take a wander to old town Jaffa or ultra hip Neve Tzedek, or simply to stroll outside our door and be right on the gorgeous 14km of beach.
The pool area of the Intercontinental is a non-stop parade of gorgeous people topping up their tans. It’s a split-level, wooden affair with two pools and a well-stocked bar, making it pretty much impossible not to feel glamorous here, rubbing shoulders with the in-crowd.
OutThere travellers should ask for the concierge, Avi – husband of Russell Lord, one of our voices and also one half of the gay couple that successfully sued the government into recognising their same-sex marriage, changing the law for gay couples across the country.
www.intercontinental-telaviv.com
