Travel Tip: Airbnbs in Israel
When I was traveling with Rica in Israel, we decided in advance not to book hotels, but to look for accommodation via Airbnb. Not only because it was cheaper, but also because we had the chance to meet people who live in Israel and could give us some tips. Originally I didn't plan to write a separate post about this, so there are only photos from one accommodation. Nevertheless, I would like to recommend you three accommodations that we particularly enjoyed.
Hospitality right after arrival
Our first host was Nate – and he welcomed us right away with open arms. Not only that it stayed up late into the night until we finally got our rental car and found our way around. No, he also provided us directly with wine and fruit, made us breakfast the next morning, explained and showed us everything else possible…it was really great! We slept really well in Roadtrip: our first night in Israel and I can highly recommend Nate as host and his apartment to you!
Roof terrace within walking distance to the Damascus Gate
In Jerusalem, we had an Airbnb with a rooftop terrace – about a 10 minute walk from Damascus Gate. Just like at Nate's, we only had one room to ourselves here, and not a whole apartment. The roof terrace was our absolute highlight, and we liked to make ourselves comfortable here in the evening with a glass of wine. The rest of the apartment was okay too, nothing special but nicely decorated with some great vintage pieces. Yaël, our host, wasn't there herself because she works as a flight attendant, but her boyfriend and dog welcomed us and shared the apartment with us. The location was also ideal as we could walk to the Old City of Jerusalem and also had one of the few free parking spaces right outside the front door. Yaël was super helpful as a host and always answered our many questions as quickly as possible – so here it was definitely worthwhile to search via Airbnb!
Lovingly furnished apartment in Haifa
But our absolute highlight was Yaël's apartment in Haifa. Free parking for our rental car was right outside the front door – even if you need a bit of luck to find a free spot. We live in the apartment all by ourselves and Yaël told us before where the key is hidden and we can get in without any problems. The pictures on Airbnb certainly did not promise too much – the apartment is the absolute madness. Not only that there is everything you need for a short or longer stay, the furnishings are super loving. There are small homemade or gathered items everywhere, a bookshelf full of books, cookies for us…plus Yaël invites us to her own apartment where we visit her. Until recently, she lived in the apartment herself, which she now rents out as an Airbnb. She makes puppets, which explains the homemade decoration and moved away with her boyfriend. Lots of personal tips and great hospitality for us to boot – truly a wonderful Airbnb experience.
We also stayed in Airbnbs in Tel Aviv and in Eilat, so I'll mention that here for the sake of completeness. However, both accommodations were rather functional and therefore I can't recommend them to you.
What were your most memorable Airbnb experiences? And which accommodations can you especially recommend?