Dina AbransonThe Drisco Hotel is a cultural experience alongside exemplary service, the right place these days for those who miss a holiday in Europe or for those who strive for standards of cleanliness and strict adherence to health guidelines.
Already at the entrance to the Drisco Hotel, we felt we had arrived at another country. Tel Aviv is right behind the door, but for 24 hours we felt as if we were in another country. It started with a reception by an English-speaking staff who gently led us to velvet sofas, where we were briefed on the expected stay and received a glass of fine wine. It continued in the meticulously neat room and the smell of cleanliness in every corner, the view from the window and, mostly, the cultural experience that the place provides.
The Drisco Hotel is not just another hotel in Tel Aviv. Unlike the large hotels located on the shoreline and designed mainly for families looking for entertainment, the Drisco Hotel is a business hotel that offers lifestyle and culture. This is why it attracts mostly Western tourism and people who are excited about history and art.
We chose the Drisco Hotel after googling ‘Tel Aviv Business Hotel’ due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the need for a high-standard holiday that still enables completely following the health guidelines. Among the hundreds of Israeli hotels that we reviewed, the Drisco stood out for its romantic structure and meticulous design, along with a high rating from web surfers. At a closer look, we were pleased to discover that it did indeed look promising.
A cultural experience from another world
The Drisco is located at the heart of the picturesque American Colony of Jaffa. Ten years were devoted to its preparation, from a building intended for preservation up to its opening as a luxury boutique hotel.
The place was initially established on September 22, 1866 by the brothers John and George, who came to the American Colony and decided to establish a hotel there. Over the years and to this day, various cultures have passed through the place, including the Templars, the Germans, British officers and other impressive groups of people throughout history. The Drisco is a rare place that manages to retain its full beauty, including rare murals that are over a hundred years old.
As part of the conservative restoration work required for its opening, wall artists from all over the world were brought to the site to renew its glorious history. The best architects and designers were required for the task of combining the prestige of the ancient world with the comfort of the modern world.
These impressive opening data, and the fact that the place is far beyond a pleasing structure, are what put the Drisco on the “Leading Hotels of the World” list. This is a list in which there are currently only four other Israeli hotels, including the American Colony Hotel, the King David Hotel, the Mamilla Hotel, and the Setai Hotel—a respectable number.
As a boutique hotel, the Drisco has only 42 rooms and, through the arches of the windows, the sea and the magical roofs of Jaffa can be seen. On the other side of the hotel, the sun sets on the Templar structure in the Colony and on the picturesque spire of the nearby Emanuel Church. Although it is two minutes from Neve Tzedek and one minute from Old Jaffa, this landscape seems to belong to a different time and place.
For those who love local inspiration and want to spend time in the area, it takes more than one day to contain all the cultural richness that the local scene has to offer.
Locally inspired cuisine
After having a toast at sunset and checking out the shower nestled inside a spectacular black-and-white mosaic, it was definitely time to explore the culinary side of the place. The GEORGE & JOHN Restaurant is located at the very heart of the Drisco. It is nestled between high ceilings, marble columns, and murals from the early 20th century that give it a romantic look. Like the hotel, it is also meticulously neat and is already ranked high among the leading restaurants in the country as having an elite cuisine.
The restaurant is led by chef Tomer Tal, a well-known figure in the Israeli culinary scene, and he testifies that the atmosphere in the hotel provides him with inspiration as to what dishes to offer. The menus are influenced by the proximity to Old Jaffa and the dishes are made from fresh ingredients of local agriculture, Mediterranean touches served to each diner in small amounts, with a European look.
In challenging times such as these, it is required to coordinate arrivals at the restaurant ahead of time, and the number of guests allowed to sit at the restaurant simultaneously has been reduced to meet the guidelines of the Israeli Ministry of Health. Meals are also held in the hotel courtyard where, in the open air, a distance much greater than two meters is maintained between tables. Moreover, the hotel offers and even encourages its guests to order private meals to their rooms, so that the combination of restaurant and hotel is becoming an added value these days.
Welcoming every guest
For the purpose of reviewing the hotel, I ask to meet with Avi Zack, one of the owners of the place and the person behind the project. Zack has been involved in hospitality for many years. About a decade ago, he was head of a number of hotels in central London, the United Kingdom. In 2005, he returned to Tel Aviv to establish boutique hotels in the center of Tel Aviv—the Vital Hotel and the Drisco Hotel—and, since then, he has been a co-manager of these hotels.
The interview takes place in a living room named after Mark Twain who, according to historical records, visited here and even wrote about the place in his book. The armchairs, lighting, music, wine cabinet, and paintings preserved on the walls give the place a historical inspirational look.
I asked Zack why he chose to invest in the historic Drisco Hotel in spite of the complex conservation that this involves.
When he got to know the building and its history, Zack answered, he thought it would be interesting to bring into his field of interest and occupation something that may be less economic, but is definitely unique. He saw the place as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There are not many such buildings in the country and, in his opinion, not even in the world, that somehow remained preserved and were not completely destroyed over time. He saw a work of art here and, personally, it is exciting for him to sit within a piece of time from history and succeed in preserving its magic.
What kind of visitors usually come to the Drisco?
During normal times, says Zack, mostly tourists from all over the world come, mainly from the United States and Western Europe. Various groups of people come here, and each one of them feels connected to the story of the place, whether it’s because of the American Colony, the German Templar era, or the fact that British officers stay at the hotel. Everyone feels connected from their own angle to this special place.
The place attracts customers, mostly couples, who are looking for an experience beyond a normal hotel stay, people who are excited about history and about a high level of art, and who like to receive high-quality service alongside the intimate hospitality that the Drisco provides.
What steps have you taken to adapt the hotel to the Coronavirus pandemic?
The hotel, by its very nature, already provides a safer experience of hospitality with an intimate atmosphere, without having to mingle with the rest of the guests. Alongside this, the hotel follows additional rules to protect the health of the guests. The staff takes great care to clean and disinfect the rooms, control the entry of all customers, and verify that they are healthy when they arrive at the hotel. Regarding the catering, the hotel added the possibility of ordering meals to the private rooms, and a safe distance is maintained between tables within the restaurant. Zack believes that the hotel succeeded in adapting to the spirit of the period and providing security for the guests despite the challenging health situation.
What put you on the “Leading Hotels” prestigious list?
The rating of a quality hotel is derived not only from its functionality, but also from its ability to provide an experience. Being on this list is a compliment, but it is also accompanied by a great demand and commitment in which not every hotel is interested.
During the many years that the “Leading Hotels” organization has existed, it has refined the meaning of a service experience at hotels. The organization requires high standards for being included on its list, encompassing a range of details that, together, change a high-level service experience to an excellent-level experience. This requires great care for details, recruiting the right staff, and trying to reach the highest level of service. The organization also makes sure to send undercover visitors to verify that the hotel is indeed worthy of the title.
Can you give me an example?
There is a detailed book of guidelines that need to be followed, for example: if a worker sees a guest sitting alone, according to the protocol, he is obliged to approach the guest and offer him a newspaper or book to pass the time. If the room attendant notices that the guest has left a book open, she leaves a bookmark exactly where the book was open to. If someone already sipped from the glass in the room, the hotel staff immediately replaces it with a new one; and so on. Many details make up the service. At the end of the day, says Zack, he learned that the experience of the hotel guests consists mostly of the hospitality that they receive from the staff.
The staff makes sure to know the first name of each guest, and guess his exact needs and meet them. In one case, when there were tourists from another country, this was an easier task, because they stayed at the hotel for more than a week. During the coronavirus pandemic, when Israelis stay for one or two nights, it is harder to provide them with the usual personal service, and Zack is truly sorry about that.
What do you personally emphasize in the service?
Beyond the service, the hotel staff sees the place as the warmest home that exists today in Tel Aviv, whether for guests who come from Israel or for those from elsewhere in the world, and it is important to the hotel staff that guests feel very welcome.
It is important to Zack, on a personal level, that every person who comes to the hotel will feel respected, and even more so during normal times, when there are guests from Australia or Japan, or even a nearby country such as Cyprus. After all, the guests come specifically to the Drisco hotel, out of all the many other hotels in Tel Aviv or elsewhere that they could have chosen.
Zack is always excited to see visitors arrive, get out of the taxi and walk through the door. It amazes him to think how far they have come, spending 12 hours of hardship, crossing airports, or even only taking a taxi from their homes in Tel Aviv. He feels that he cannot just make due with a simple welcome.
Zack tries to instill this in all the hotel employees and managers. Even today, during the Coronavirus pandemic, if someone bothers to come especially to the Drisco hotel from Jerusalem in his car, this should not be taken for granted by anyone. A man left the safety of his home during the Coronavirus pandemic—this is something that deserves to be taken as seriously as possible, and Zack hopes and wishes that the whole team is as excited as he is.
Bottom line: We enjoyed exceptional service alongside a cultural experience that seems as if it came from another country. If you are planning a holiday during the Coronavirus pandemic, then you might as well have your holiday at a place like the Drisco Hotel, which not only keeps the guidelines but makes a special effort to offer full security to its guests.
To the website of the Drisco Hotel: https://www.thedrisco.co.il
