Elma Hotel and Art Complex

The hotel is situated in Zichron-Yakov and have a very nice view over the Mediterranean Sea between the cities of Hadera and Haifa. With a good visibility you can see the both from the hotel. Our experience of a night at this hotel was terrible. It started about half hour after the check in while myself with my wife wanted to take a nap after a one hour drive from Tel Aviv. And then... surprise... without any announcement one of the service workers of the hotel opened our room, went inside the room and told us that he just want to pick us a teenager bed that was on our room ( I don't know why it was there since I mentioned that we need just one double bed...). ZERO PRIVACY at this hotel. If it happened to us, it can probably happen to any guest... being visited by the hotel staff, unannounced. The room was old style designed, the entry room is almost falling while it is wide opened. No mini-bar, just an empty fridge. It doesn't help in any way that the electricity buttons are "hi-tech" touch ones if the room is so old fashioned and has no facilities on it. This hotel is listed as a FIVE stars hotel. Well, we stayed on Five stars hotels, also on four stars hotels and even on three stars hotels all over the world. This hotel has nothing in common to a FIVE stars hotel. Hardly it may be maybe a THREE stars hotel all in any place in the world. Another big bad surprise was the breakfast. I personally don't eat many milk products. Since most of the breakfast products ( but vegetables) were milk based, probably because a strict Kosher demands, I wasn't able to eat much of this "Chef buffet" which the hotel offers. If you want to drink a orange juice during the breakfast, then you have to know that there is a single orange juice machine for all the guests, and yeah, it is a long row to get your 50cc glass of juice at this hotel. In order to summarize it - Nice hotel for the views, very bad staff as you don't have any privacy while any service worker can entry to your room unexpectedly , far lower "real" rank than FIVE stars, and a extremally high price per night ( paid $480 for a Superior Double Room) which I feel it was wasted without getting any close value for it in return. NOT RECOMMENDED !!!!

Beautiful hotel. Staff very helpful. Outside pool very relaxing and good food from pool bar. Lot of art on display. Building and grounds architecturally interesting. Room neat and clean. Housekeeping staff and breakfast wait staff very competent. Breakfast the most Israeli of all hotels. Of course abundant but tasted the most home made. Views of Mediterranean from hilltop were beautiful

Elma is a unique resort, hotel and art centre/gallery. Home for Israeli art and music it has a unique history of renown international style architecture [considered one of Rechters’ masterpieces - originally built as a resort for workers in the sixties]. The architecture takes in breathtaking view. We enjoyed superb hosts and a delicious rich and creative kitchen. Zichron Yaacov is one of the oldest townships in the country - established by Rothschild back to the late 19th century - so there is a lot of interesting sites to visit in this small town. Located at the hilltop overlooking unarguably one of Israels most enchanting mediterranean beach’s. Opened by an Israeli visionary Mrs. Lily Epstein and her family - there is no place like ELMA. A pleasant pools in the complex and a first class SPA are also to be enjoyed. Almost every evening one of its two music venues hosts first class stars of different music garnered and styles including the finest rock music around. Defiantly a wonderful place to restore inspiration and take it easy and connect!

Excellent atmosphere , relaxing and ….different from other hotels , spacious, great views, wonderful food, nice and helpful staff. We plan to come back with friends and family to share other great moments!

Many good things - room was very well-equipped and comfortable. Facilities were excellent, and setting is beautiful. Plenty of free parking inside. Great breakfast, though service could have been better. In fact, service overall could have been a lot better. The only staff member we were impressed with was a person who gave a tour of the property for free at 10:00 am each day. Worth doing if you can. But, lack of people to help out and lack of enthusiasm to help out seemed out of place for a "luxury" hotel. Could have been a "5" if not for the mediocre service.

Pros: Stayed for 2 nights (not for the first time). Magnificent view of the coastal area. A very large collection of Israeli modern art. Cons: Very poor service ! They did not clean our room !!!! Even after asking 2 times to clean it (once from the cleaning supervisor and then from the reception). When we finally spoke with the reception manager, he compansated us by not charge us with the dinner cost. But, no apology, no explanation how this can happen in a 5+ star hotel. Also, the room was not clean and fested with roaches Very dissappointing :-(

What a Stunning hotel with an equally stunning view. The breakfast was fantastic - only issue is I rolled out of there. Such tranquility that is very hard to find especially in israel. A very special place! Would definitely recommend The Elma

Well, the room is a bummer ...noting luxurious about it. Poorly maintained, not very clean and a cheap design and construction. the staff is nice but overall- disappointing expierence for me. Things to improve: Trace : no cussions on the wooden chairs. No view either. The glass door has dengerously high threshold, and a rusty screen door. Bath: no bath. Shower window with a handle but it does not open-cheap design solution.wierd. The glass door is full of water stains. Soap dipensers are cheap plastic ones..the shampoo looks cheap as well. Room: clean enough. TV screen is with paint drips.not a big deal but not luxurious as well. No welcome treats .. disappointing. We paid more than 500usd per night. I have seen much better hotel rooms for far lesser price.

Everything was fabulous. The bed. The view. The stuff. The food. .….The spa. the swimming pool . Everything except the price of the extras. Small bottle of soda water in breakfast cost 15ils…..