Elma Arts Hotel, Zichron Yaakov, Israel

In an effort to explore Israel a bit more on this trip, we decided to head to Zichron Yaakov, a lovely town located some 22 miles south of Haifa, or a one hour drive north from Tel Aviv. Zichron Yaakov (more on the town in my next post) was founded in 1882 by 100 Jewish pioneers from Romania.

Since we were going to be spending two days touring the area and my friend and I were in need of some spa treatments, we decided to stay at the Elma Arts Hotel.

The walls at the Elma Arts Hotel are filled with paintings by contemporary Israeli artists. Elma also has a really beautiful 450 seat concert and recital hall.

Since we booked at the last minute, they only had the Deluxe ($340) room available.

The bed was super comfortable and we each had a choice of a soft or a firm pillow.

Our room had two balconies, two chairs, and the views were of the Mediterranean coastline and farms.

The bathroom was fine, but it definitely did not match the modern decor of the room. It looked like a kibbutz bathroom with stained floor and mismatched toiletries.

The interior design of the hotel is gorgeous; I loved the stone walls and the colorful furniture.

As the sun was setting, my husband and I went for a walk to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings.

The pool is next to the spa. I did not take any photos of the spa, which was very pretty, and serene.

Exhausted from a day of activities, we decided to eat dinner at the hotel (Kosher), what a great decision that ended up being!

As soon as we sat down, all these magnificent salads and appetizers were placed on the table. Since this was our first time at Elma, we thought that this was our dinner. Well, it was not.

Every single dish was spectacular, and every vegetable tasted as if it was just picked.

We were handed menus to choose our main entrees. Frankly, we would not have eaten so much had we known that these were merely appetizers, but thankfully, the entrees were not gigantic.

Beef tenderloin crusted with espresso and cocoa, five colorful creams of vegetables.

Lamb shank toasted green-wheat risotto and root vegetables, cream of carrots.

Duck rillettes with steamed red cabbage.

Lemon pie.

The restaurant was nicely designed and even had a few comfy seating areas with fireplaces.

At first when I came down to breakfast and only saw one small counter with breads and jams, I almost shed a tear. I live for a hotel breakfast, especially in Israel where they are known for going overboard with generosity. While I love staying in an apartment, where all the shopping, chopping, cooking, and cleaning is done by me, I miss the spectacular feast of a breakfast at an Israeli hotel. I love playing house in Israel, but occasionally, a girl is due for a treat. As I was falling asleep at the Elma, I imagined that the breakfast would be fantastic since the dinner was so delicious.

So, I walked around the corner and saw these counters with the most spectacular breakfast spread laid out. I was one happy camper.