Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem

Enjoyed my 14th visit to the outstanding Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem. Many hotels claim that they “aim to please”, however the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem goes way over and beyond the typical “aim to please”. Starting with my email to the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem prior to my arrival with my custom requests for this stay. In only 12 minutes from the time that I hit send on my email, Siham from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem had already responded to my email. The wonderful Ihab from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem front desk gave the approvals for my special requests and the amazing Rami from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem front desk remembered specifically which room we like to have at the hotel and he set aside that room for our stay. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, David from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem Security team, recommended to me a local tourist site that he figured I would enjoy. And he was spot on. Fuad, the excellent weekday Maitre d’hotel gave me his typical warm welcome as soon as he saw me. Maamoon, the outstanding weekend Maitre d’hotel is another example of someone who truly consistently does way over and beyond the typical “aim to please”. And a thank you to Sumaya, Maxim and Hanna for assisting with my custom requests. I enjoyed the daily breakfast buffets (huge spread) and the special Friday night buffet (You must try the delicious Entrecote Steak and Corned beef) and the Sabbath/Saturday lunch buffet (The Lamb spare-ribs are yum). The food quality is excellent, and the servers are very friendly. Upon my return, I sent an email with an important request to the hotel. Gilly responded to my email in only 5 minutes and informed me that Ihab from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem front desk had already taken care of this request. Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem is the perfect hotel combined with perfect staff and in a perfect location. Read less

The facility is amazing. Though not on the first line facing the old city it is very very well situated lots of attractions and excellent restaurants nearby. We had an excellent large and upgraded room (817) on the 8th floor (out of 9) with a small balcony with some views of the old city. This room was great! But Lots of problems that a 5 star luxury hotel should avoid: Long line for check in. Only 3 (nice but exceptionally slow) receptionists so it took 30(!) minutes for check in. 2 out of 4 elevators had problems. And then starting on Friday on 1600 they became SHABAT elevators so it took sometimes 20/30 min wait. Frustrating. Gym not working 24/7 but 0800-1800?! Come on! Two buttons in the spinning bike not functioning. No gym instructor during our stay. Indoor Swimming pool open only until 1800 and stuff urge you to go out at 1745 because it closes at 1800?! Really?! Good treatments in the SPA Almost all visitors were orthodox Americans. I am not saying it is good or bad but one should know what to expect on weekends. And symbolically after checkout going out from the hotel parking the gate got stuck. Took only 90 seconds for the bell boy to run and rescue us but that demonstrates the flaws in the hotel that one does not expect from Waldorf Astoria Read less

The Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem is a nice hotel in a great location, within walking distance to the historical sites of Jerusalem and the old city. The rooms are decent size, and the lobby/restaurant area is beautiful as the building is historic. Disclaimer: I stayed in the hotel during the period following the October 7 attack, and my understanding is due to probably a lull in visitors and other reasons, the hotel was not fully staffed. The point being, I want to give the hotel the benefit of the doubt that perhaps things are more 5-star/luxury-esque during more normal times, but while I stayed there I noticed some serious areas of improvement. For one, when I checked-in they did not have my Hilton Honors number on file despite having added the reservation to my profile. Not a huge deal, but this meant that they did not give me any room upgrade (at least that was obvious to me) at check-in. I had the check-in person add the number, but then the next day when I went back to the front desk it still had not been added. Again, not the end of the world, but also basic service. Frustratingly, this meant that my room, while decent, was neither a king nor a queen, but two twins shoved together with a big space in between the mattress (see photos). Was not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement. They did, however, provide me with a lovely fruit and pastry arrangement as well as sparkling water shortly after I got into my room. As a note, this hotel is strictly kosher, so on Saturday morning (shabbat) the breakfast is primarily only cold items. This also means, that at least during my stay (again I think due to staffing shortages) I do not think there were any meat dishes in the hotel because that would mean that they could not have cheese at the same time, and I think the meat kitchen for this type of food may have been temporarily closed? I also noticed that some of the buffet items did not seem like they were being changed out as frequently as they should, and by Saturday the fruit was going kind of bad (there were actually little bugs flying around some of the fruit bowls). While the main areas of the hotel are very nice, I noticed stains on my hotel room carpet, and the common area hallways also didn’t seem like they were being maintained that well. Again, this could be due to a staffing shortage due to the crisis and a lull in visitors, but also not what I was expecting at this price point. Staff members’ attitudes also varied, some people were very friendly, others seemed uninterested, sometimes at breakfast staff would be eager to serve, other times it would take ten minutes just to be seated. On a positive note, the staff who worked at the hotel bar were very friendly and engaging – so props to the bartenders and the hotel in this area. The spa is very nice, and the gym while not huge is well maintained with very good equipment – again, due to the current situation, the gym is only open 7am to 7pm. Overall, the hotel is nice, and worth considering if you want to pay the rather steep nightly rate. However, set your expectations realistically if you’re someone who is used to 5 star hotels in other parts of the world, as I am not sure that in its current incarnation the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem meets the international standard of “luxury hotel.” Read less

Just returned from my 13th visit to the superb Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem. Special thanks to Ihab from the front office who was very courteous and extremely helpful. Thanks to other staff from the front desk: Mohammed, Paulo, Assem and Karim. David, from the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem Security team, always with a nice smile and ready to help in any way possible. And a nice welcome at the hotel entrance by Ghoul and Neuber. Special mention to Maamoon and Fuad, the 2 professional Maitre d’hotel who continuously welcomed me with a warm smile and constantly went beyond to cater to all of my requests. And thanks to Hassan for assisting with my custom requests. And thank you Ira from the Dining room and thanks to Lila for the exceptional in-room dining service. It is always exciting to see the new foods added to the extraordinary Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem breakfast. New long baguette rolls. The tasty Matjes herring. And a yummy new croissant with an almond cream filling and crushed pistachios on top of the croissant. Mouth-watering breakfast. Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem. The Dream Hotel of the Middle East. Read less

The rooms and bathrooms are gorgeous, with one exception---the carpets are filthy dirty. They need to be replaced or shampooed, majorly. The food is excellent. The people at the front desk are not so great--they are very nice but don't seem to know alot about things in Jerusalem that people ask about, i.e. sights, restaurants, etc. There is no dedicated concierge, which they need desperately. Maybe due to the war they are sort-staffed and operating with a pick-up group? Read less