Israeli hotel chain Isrotel opened the Orient Jerusalem, the company’s only property located within the country’s capital.
First started in 1984, Isrotel was founded by the late Jewish businessman David Lewis. The new 243-room Orient Jerusalem marks the latest addition to the brand’s Exclusive Collection, comprised of five star hotels (Cramim, Beresheet, Carmel Forest Spa Resort, Royal Beach Tel Aviv, and Royal Beach Eilat).
Designed by hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA), the urban resort’s design elements blend high-quality stone, wood, tile, and glass. Bed frames and soap dishes are all handcrafted by local artisans.
The lobby is accessed through a glass pavilion facing the hotel’s Jerusalem-style courtyard. Guest rooms have an earth-toned and regal color palette with fabric details in burnt sienna and azure. Bathrooms have intricate tile work and metallic finishings
The hotel itself is a mix of new construction as well as two preserved Templar buildings from 1882 and 1883. Originally built by the Templars who inhabited the site in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and formerly a school for their community, the adapted structures underwent years of restoration by architect Eyal Ziv in collaboration with the hotel’s principal architects, Yehuda, Dov and Yoel Feigin of Feigin Architects.
As a tribute to the Templars, the hotel has created a small interactive museum on site, featuring a selection of authentic artifacts from the Templar era collected from their former colonies throughout Israel, as well as a storyboard detailing their history and a film shot in Jerusalem and the German Colony in 1898.
Previously displayed at both the Tel Aviv and Israeli Museums, the hotel’s art collection was realized under the direction of Sharon Tuval, one of the only art curators employed by a hotel chain in the country.