The effort to attract domestic tourism to counter the painful drop in foreign tourism, while simultaneously contending with the long-term presence of large numbers of evacuees, caused many hotels to come up with cultural weekend programs to give their guests an interesting experience that would temporarily divert their minds from the myriad of national crises.

Long before the war, the Elma hotel in Zichron Ya’acov was hosting cultural weekends with music of every genre and lectures on the arts, politics, and whatever burning issues were capturing media headlines.

Reading Elma advertisements in the Hebrew press about the return of their cultural events often excited my curiosity, but I didn’t get around to doing anything about it until recently.

Retaining the charm of yesteryear

The initial sight of the grounds of Elma was breathtaking. Zichron Ya’acov has retained the charm of yesteryear. The cab driver commented on it as we drove through what is arguably Israel’s wine capital.

All the major wine companies have restaurants and bars along the entrance to the city, including Carmel Winery, the pioneer of Israel’s wine industry which was founded in 1882 with the help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and is based in Zichron Ya’acov and Rishon Lezion. The Tishbi vineyards, planted around the same time, also figure prominently in the history of Israel’s wine industry. Both wineries contribute greatly to Israel’s wine exports.COCKTAILS ON the balcony with Zichron Ya’acov in the background. (credit: ORI LEWIS)

There are no tall towers, and although modern technology is in use inside the buildings, the aura of yesteryear remains.

I had been to Zichron Ya’acov last year for lunch with friends who had driven me there, but we did not go beyond the restaurant area. This time I was able to catch a glimpse of suburbia, where houses and apartment complexes were mostly one or two stories with an occasional three-story building, but that’s as high as they go.

ON ENTERING the hotel I was greeted at the reception desk by Ido Levi. We chatted for about half an hour, with Levi graciously attending to other guests as they approached the front desk.

Finally, when I asked about my room, and told him who I was, he couldn’t do enough for me, and even quipped that his name, Ido, when the syllables are separated, reads “I do.” And indeed he does, and he did.

The room, a few stairs up from the ground floor, was one of the luxury suites with two balconies providing different long-range views. The double bed with a comfortable mattress and large bolster pillows was inviting. But the bathroom did not have a bathtub. There was a shower stall with a choice of nozzles, and a built-in wall-to-wall seat for people who prefer to shower in a seated position or who want to sit while drying their feet.

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The bathroom was also limited in toiletries, with nothing that could be souvenired. No sachets of hair shampoo or conditioner. No mini sewing kits, no toothbrush, no toothpaste, no comb, no Q-tips.

As for storage, there was no closet, just a narrow built-in rack, which held two coat hangers, over a built-in chest of drawers that held a hair dryer and a laundry bag.

There were tea and coffee makers, but the mini refrigerator, which in most hotels holds drinks and snacks, was empty.

However, there was a large plate of good-quality, colorful tropical fruits, plus three mouthwatering chocolate balls.There were also two comprehensive books on art.

The Elma hotel is well known for its large and fascinating art collection, which takes up wall and floor space throughout the sprawling complex.

In addition, there is a large arts library in the spacious dining room. Most of the books are in English.

All meals are served buffet-style in an ideal arrangement which takes vegans and vegetarians into consideration.

A large range of fresh, and truly delicious salads was laid out on a long ledge against a wall. On another ledge there was a variety of breads; on another there were soups; and on different, well separated sections of a bar, there were fish dishes, stewed vegetables, meat dishes, and desserts. Both kinds of fish offerings were somewhat disappointing, but people at other tables kept returning to the buffets for additional helpings of soup and meat – so these offerings obviously appealed to the palates of many of the guests.

After dinner, I kept nagging Levi about where the jazz concert was being held, but he knew nothing about it. Finally, he called the very pleasant general manager, Ortal Azoulay, who explained that there was no entertainment that night.

That was not quite as bad as it sounds. It left me free to roam the corridors and discover the different facilities, which include banquet rooms for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other large-scale events, conference rooms of different sizes and decor, and night-club-style rooms. In addition, there are glassed-in coffee areas with individual styles of furniture in each.

Breakfast the following morning was full of tempting dishes, and contrary to what is served in most hotels, the cheesecake was baked, rather than the refrigerator variety, and I discovered a large, outdoor dining facility on the terrace leading from the dining room, which had not been visible at night, and from which there was a spectacular panoramic view.

There is no train or bus to Zichron Ya’acov. Anyone who wants to go there must either drive, or take a taxi from the Fureidis bus stop or the Binyamina train station.

With the aim of returning to Jerusalem well before Shabbat, and not knowing how long it would take, I had asked Levi to order an early-morning taxi to take me to the Fureidis bus stop. There was no taxi available, so Levi drove me in his own car, which was just one more example of the excellent service in both the dining room and at the front desk. As there are several buses that stop at Fureidis, he even got out of the car to double-check the number of the bus I should take to Jerusalem, and asked me to send him a WhatsApp when I got there.

The ride took 90 minutes.

Would I go again?

Now that I’m better informed – definitely yes.

The writer was a guest of the hotel.