The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv

May 30, 2011February 18, 2021 Margalit Sturm Francus

Location

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Hotel ‘s location is ideal for most travelers seeking to explore the different aspects of Tel Aviv life. It not only faces a pristine Mediterranean beach and city park that appeal to beachgoers but borders the famous bohemian neighborhood of Neve Tzedek and the revived charming old railway station ‘Hatachana With its unique boutiques and nouvelle cuisine eateries.

For those interested in architecture, the hotel is but a short distance away from the colorful Carmel produce market, the UNESCO declared ‘White City’ zone of preserved Bauhaus buildings as well as the picturesque town of Jaffa.

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv palms

View from the hotel-Hassan Beck Mosque and Shalom Tower that was Tel Aviv’s first department store

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv street

Old Jaffa ‘s main thoroughfare -the Clock Tower and old Ottoman police station

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv carmel market

Tel Aviv’s outdoor colorful produce Carmel market

Rooms

The rooms are spacious and tastefully decorated in neutral tones of creams, browns, and pale greens. Our room boasted two incredibly comfortable beds (a hotel associate told me that they change their mattresses on a yearly basis), a separate sitting area, flat screen TV, and small refrigerator.

The bathroom tiled in light marble colors offered the usual tub/shower combo with the specialized top of the line massage shower heads, much to Jeff’s delight. The amenities’ kit replenished on a daily basis featured famous Dead Sea products.

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv beds

Our room on the 13th floor

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv view

View of the beach from our 13th floor room window

Did I mention the top notch service?

Our room had been ready and waiting for us even though we arrived quite early in the morning, and the official check-in was several hours away. During our check-in, the front desk person not only made a point of verifying all our special requests were met before sending us to our assigned room but called the room later to ask whether we needed anything else.

The servers in the breakfast buffet area as well as in the executive lounge made a point to come and greet us daily as well as remember our names and our drink preferences.There was even the incredible gesture of a watchful restaurant server who upon noticed my autistic son struggling to pit the olives on his plate, went back to the kitchen and returned within minutes with a plate full of already pitted olives.This hotel also has one of the most meticulous housekeeping department.

I had come across in my many years of traveling When we entered the room the two beds were placed together to form a queen-sized bed, so we asked the housekeeping to send someone to separate them.They showed up within five minutes and completed the task. Two minutes later a knock on the door surprised me. When I asked who it was, and they answered housekeeping, I replied to the matter had already been resolved.

However, to my surprise the person knocking was the room maid who had come to re-vacuum that small carpet area that was now uncovered between the two beds!I found the hotel’s staff to be highly professional, helpful, well trained and eager to please across the board but what truly set them apart from another hotel personnel we’ve encountered over the years during our travels is their high autism awareness and visible human compassion.

Food Venues

Although we did not get the chance to eat at the newly upgraded Aubergine Restaurant, we did enjoy our scrumptious daily breakfast at the Jaffa Court. The food quality and selection were impressive even though due to kosher laws no meat products were served. Jeff was happy to discover some new foods he hadn’t tasted before like the Israeli Tahini, white cheeses like ‘Tzfatit’ and ‘Labaneh’ as well as his favorite his eggplant salad, pickled herring, egg shakshouka and potato ‘burekas’.We also liked their newly designed Executive Lounge temporarily situated on the third floor by the pool.

The room design with darker woods.,Granite counter tops, futuristic lighting and top to glass bottom windows showcasing the pool, and beachfront views was perfect for us. It had an excellent spread of finger foods and salads throughout the day accompanied by various complementary choices of juices, sodas, coffees and alcohol. Both our son, Jeff and I found it very relaxing to sit and read the newspapers or use the provided computers to check email after a tiring day of travel.

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv executive lounge

David Intercontinental ‘s executive lounge beverage selection

The Family Friendly David Intercontinental Tel Aviv food

David Intercontinental executive lounge salad selection

Hotel Amenities

The public spaces have outstanding works by famous Israeli artists like Nahum Gutman on level three that enhance the architectural beauty of the building. Our son with autism loved the giant wall carpet adorning the restaurant area and was disappointed to hear they did not sell any replicas in their souvenir store.

The hotel has several shops on the lobby level selling the usual; sundries, trinkets, souvenirs, a clothing boutique, an upscale jewelry store, as well as some art galleries displaying current Israeli talent. The pool area and spa looked inviting, but we never got to try it out as we had a busy itinerary that week.