Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem

The Waldorf Astoria opened in 2014. It was a completely new hotel at that date, although it is behind the façade of the former Palace Hotel, which opened in 1929 and closed in 1935.

- Tom Otley

BACKGROUND The Palace Hotel had just three storeys, while this one has a larger block behind it which is nine storeys high, and with three storeys beneath, including one for parking. In a passageway on one of the subterranean levels you can see some 'before and after pictures to appreciate the extent of the rebuilding. Across the road is another building with 30 Waldorf Astoria residences.

WHERE IS IT? On the corner of Gershon Agron and Ben Shim'on streets near Malmilla shopping mall, which gives access to Jaffa Gate and the Old City. It is a ten-minute drive from the train station, from where there are fast trains to Tel Aviv airport.