Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem

Reviews - Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem
- Age Group: 26 - 30
- From: United States
- Traveller type: Family Traveller
Read 265 additional reviews of Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem at TripAdvisor.
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Historical Traveller Reviews of Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem
Not bad, could be better
from KentSELondonBest of the Best
from mcwurzHotel, just OK
from KateikinsNewer Hotel Needs Facelift
from InaheedConstruction took a long time. In 2001 we saw the partially built Grand Court, as construction had been halted. Later it resumed and the hotel opened in 2005.
We walked through the Grand Court a few months after it opened in 2005 and I noticed water stains on the hallway carpets. Two years later those stains still remain.
We visited the Grand Court for Shabbat dinner in 2005. The food selection at that time was diverse and very tasty. We decided that on our next visit we would stay at the Grand Court.
This year we did that. I was expecting the quality of variety of food
we had seen when we'd stopped by for several other visits. But I was disappointed in the food selection. For breakfasts the variety of choices were limited. At dinner the selections of meat and salads were not as varied or tasty as those we had elsewhere.
The dining rooms were crowded in the mornings and evenings with all the large tour groups. It made it hard to get around to the serving areas to access the food. In the mornings it was hard to get the attention of the servers for coffee and tea.
The rooms were small and had not been maintained. Friends told how doors on closets didn't close properly and tubs didn't drain. One commented that the kibbutz Holiday Village where we stayed earlier was cleaned better each day than the room at the Grand Court.
On Shabbat the wireless service was turned off. Even the computers in
the lobby available for general use were turned off.
The staff are superb. Those at the front desk were very helpful in looking for an item lost by one of our friends. The Dining Room Manager always greeted us by name when we went for meals.
One of the great pluses of this hotel is the location. It is close enough to walk to the Old City, which we did a number of times. It is about 20 minutes to walk to Ben Yehuda Street.
The hotel gift shop is expensive but the owner of the gift shop just outside the Olive Tree Hotel does a great business as people staying at the three hotels (Novotel, Grand Court, and Olive Tree) go there to browse and shop. You can bargain with him. A friend purchased three T-shirts for $10 (about the same price as stores in the Old City).
Overall -- The Grand Court has great staff and is a good hotel but needs the management's attention to get it back to 4-star level.
Hotel with an identity crisis.
from Judith011Not a Resort Hotel
from Jonathan2007THE ROOMS: We required interconnecting rooms which the Grand Court easily accommodated us with. The rooms are on the small side, but are clean and the beds are comfortable. The maid service was fine. The rooms did not have any information pack about the services available at the hotel.
INTERNET ACCESS: The rooms do not have any internet access which is very surprising for a brand new hotel. Wi-fi is available on the lobby floor at $6 per hour, and the signal is extremely weak. It took me over 30 minutes to download a 1mb file.
LOCATION: Right across from the American Colony hotel in East Jerusalem and sandwiched between the Olive and Novotel. About 10 minutes walk to Mea Shearim, and 30 minutes walk to either the Kotel or downtown. No parks in the area.
FOOD: Pesach is always a challenging time, especially for hotels such as the Grand Court who have serious supervision. The food was adequate but certainly not gourmet. The salad bars were bountiful. As we were not on a caloric competition and were watching our weight, we were rather disappointed that the desserts comprised mainly of lots of cakes, with little focus on healthy eating options. The only fruit that was readily available was melon, and occasionally watermelon, giving the impression that the chef had a special deal going with the supplier, or that he lacked imagination. Waiter service was excellent and very accommodating.
CHILDREN FACILITIES: The hotel lacks many of the facilities you would expect at a 5 star hotel. There is no grass or playground for the children. The hotel did arrange a couple of times for a bouncy castle to be erected, but otherwise the children were pretty bored.
SWIMMING POOL: The hotel has a brand new swimming pool and a small children pool on the 6th floor. The swimming pool is on the small side and both pools don’t offer any protection from the sun. We found the water far too cold for bathing though my father enjoyed swimming on his own as no other guest wanted to risk hypothermia.
LOBBY SERVICE: We didn’t need to refer to the lobby staff much, but on the one occasion we asked to book a larger taxi to town, the receptionist called some company in East Jerusalem who asked for 100 shekel. We know that the price should not exceed 50 shekel, so it seems that there is some arrangement between the hotel and the taxi company.
SUMMARY: A comfortable hotel if you are a Pilgrim looking for a good bed and decent meal after a day seeing the sites. A boring hotel if you have a family with small children and are looking for resort like activities. I certainly wouldn’t classify the hotel as 5 star, but rather as an average 4 star.
Upscale Newer Hotel!
from A TripAdvisor MemberVery Nice Hotel , will go stay there again
from KYMATAfter reading some of the reviews here, I called my travel agent to book me at another place. He assured me that It was good place and he would refund me if I didn't like it. I am glad I didn't change. The hotel was was clean, the rooms were very tidy. The restaurant was clean, the food was wonderful. They had both the mediterranean food (which we loved) as well catering to the west. Although we were not part of a group they always managed to find us a table, even on the first day of Hanukkah when they some extra functions and guests. I did notice that the pools was under repair, but I was not there to use the pool. The location was very central and views from the room of Jerusalem was wonderful. The lobby always had orange/grapefruit juice available for free. The front office staff was friendly and courteous. There are lot of tour groups booked here, so get used to waves of tourists getting in and out. ( I guess it would be the same for any hotel in Jerusalem.)
Mat
Shelter
from whaleheadA seriously horrible hotel
from Benn-mHowever, the stafff were positively unfriendly - I had to rebuke a young man on reception for being openly rude and this attitude from the staff seemed to be in every department. When we returened from a day out, at 4pm and our room was not serviced the staff wanted to know what my problem was !
The food was poor - a buffet that had the same sad stale salads every day, and a hygene issue (I watched a member of staff taking unused food from a dirty table and putting it back on the buffet). The staff in the dining room were almost hostile !
The carpets throughout the hotel were stained with water or something ! There were places where the plaster was falling off the walls - and this is a new hotel.
The worst thing about the hotel for us though was that we went there expecting a swimming pool, because thats what they said on their web site - only to find it locked and partly built - it will be ready next summer they told us - with an indifferent shrug !
This was advertised as a 1st class 5 star hotel - I don't think so !
So although we loved jerusalem and had a great time there we wont be staying at the Grand Court ever again !
Top Local Tips for Jerusalem
Getting to the old city on foot. I recommend crossing over to the opposite of King David street (which is nearly a highway) as close to the hotel as possible and walking to either the New Gate or Jaffa gate instead of aiming for the Damascus Gate. If you walk on the closer side you end up in the middle of a smelly awful open wholesale Arab market district right outsdie the Damacus Gate that looks and feels disreputable and unwelcoming even though nothing bad happened.
Always ask how much and don't be a skinflint. Taxi's from the hotel are fine and always ask how much in advance. 30-40 NIS to Zion Sq is fine, in Israeli terms thats expensive but in sterling its very reasonable and some of those guys only make a few trips a day. Walking down Nablus Road to the Damascus Gate is ok, don't flash your cash or camera though and spend some money at the shops. The food is rough looking but tasty and bug free.
ATM's The exchnage rate you get is a rip off. No ATMS's we could find gave dollars. While many places wanted your dollars for selling goods when offer NIS the exchnage rate jumped all over the place.
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Other names for Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem
- hotel grand court
- grand court jerusalem
- grand court hotel jerusalem
- Address: 15 Saint George St - Jerusalem - 280 - Israel
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