Tel Aviv 4th most expensive city on Airbnb

Sunbathing in Tel Aviv or hitting Dubai’s fabulous malls will set you back a bit more lately. A combination of high hotel and apartment costs and strong tourism has Airbnb rates in some Middle Eastern cities among the world’s priciest.

In the latest Bloomberg index, Miami and Boston took the top two spots in the average daily cost of lodging in private dwellings for the second straight year. Airbnb owners asked for $205 a night and $195 a night, respectively, in the two cities. However, the Middle East has been climbing in the annual index and this year has five destinations among the top 15 priciest global cities: Tel Aviv and Dubai at Nos. 4 and 5, and Jerusalem, Riyadh and Kuwait City also near the top.

Dubai’s expensive short-term rentals, averaging $185 a night in Bloomberg’s index, probably are a function of high hotel rates in the Emirati city, where more than 70 percent of hotel rooms are four-star or above, said Ivana Gazivoda Vucinic of the international real estate firm Chestertons. Dubai’s supply of Airbnb units more than doubled to 3,249 units in the two years ended August 2017, following a relaxing of government regulations, according to Vucinic’s research on Dubai’s short-term rental market.

Dubai has spent billions to pump up its tourism sector and hopes to attract 20 million visitors to the city by 2020, up from 15.8 million visitors last year, according to figures from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Two U.A.E.-sponsored airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways PJSC, have been among the world’s fastest-growing carriers in recent years. Should Dubai reach the 20 million visitor goal, it will be among the top five most visited cities globally, according to market research firm Euromonitor.

Pricey Airbnb listings in Israel may have more to do with the high cost of housing in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, said Yoav Kerner, a lecturer of statistics at Ben-Gurion University in Israel. Apartments in Tel Aviv typically eat up at least three-quarters of the average person’s gross income, said Kerner, who studied the Airbnb market in Tel Aviv on behalf of a hoteliers group.

5 years later Tel Aviv promenade upgrade finalized

Started more than 5 years ago, the renovation of the Tayelet in Tel Aviv has now finally reached the southern part of the city, across from the Royal Beach hotel. With the removal of  the old Dolphinarium having finally started last month, it's now a question of months until the promenade upgrade is now fully completed, allowing tourists and residents alike to stroll along the sea from Bat Yam all the way to Herzliya.

Since its inception in the late 1930’s, the central promenade of Tel Aviv played a key role in establishing the ever-changing connection between the city and its shore. In all of the various phases of its life, whether the modest walkway of the 1930’s, the neglected site of the 1960’s, or the renovated version of the 1980’s, the elevated boardwalk acted as a border that blocked the natural pedestrian flow between the city and its beach. The renovation project aimed to transform this historical blockade by creating a new continuous interface that enables free pedestrian flow to and from the sandy beach, throughout the city’s central waterfront. Moreover, serving as the main waterfront public space of the entire metropolitan area, the new promenade and its sitting-terraces was designed to offer a generous array of seats and relaxation opportunities along the seafront, in order to host great many new visitors, and create a hospitable and lively public domain for this large dense urban area.

Leon tower to join Isrotel group

Leon Tower, the tower being built right next the Sea One, hosting the Royal Beach hotel will allow Isrotel to add another 234 rooms on Tel Aviv seafront. It is scheduled to be finished by 2021.

Isrotel Ltd. has notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it has leased the building which is still under construction on Tel Aviv seafront their other property, the Royal Beach hotel.

The new hotel will be part of Isrotel's Exclusive Collection, which includes the Tel Aviv Royal Beach and the Jerusalem Orient Hotel opened last year. The new 5* hotel will have 234 rooms and suites, swimming pool and spa and a 1,000 square meter conference center.

The new hotel, which is due to be completed by 2021, has been leased for 15 years with an option to extend by another 10 years. Isrotel has undertaken to pay a minimum annual rental fee (linked to the CPI) or a percentage of the annual turnover of the hotel - whichever is higher.

30% increase in luxury home acquisitions in Tel Aviv

Sun-seeking multimillionaires are snapping up second homes in Tel Aviv, according to a new report from market research group New World Wealth.

The beachside city in Israel isn’t the only hotspot attracting more wealthy sun worshippers. Miami; Palm Beach, Florida; Dubai and Sydney also saw a significant jump in their cohort of second-home owners worth upward of US$10 million, according to the report published last week. Both Tel Aviv and Sydney saw a 30% increase between 2015 and 2016, according to New World Wealth, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Mediterranean metropolis gained 600 more multimillionaires in 2016, up from only 2,000 the year prior. Meanwhile, there were 3,500 multimillionaire second-home owners in Sydney last year, compared to 2,700 in 2015.

In total, New World Wealth, which rounds figures to the nearest hundred, estimates that there are 522,000 people worth US$10 million or more spread across the globe. The vast majority of those individuals, some 87%, own more than just a primary residence, the group said in its news release.

New TLV Fashion Mall to open this month

Right next to Sarona the Gindi TLV Fashion Mall has just opened its doors. Built on the ruins of the wholesale market, the center contains most fashion brands, including H&M, Zara, Fox, Castro, Factor 54, Forever21, as well as several international brands opening their first shop in Israel, such as COS, Dior Boutique, Zara Home, Rag & Bone, Juicy Couture, or Adidas Originals. Another chain to open up in the mall is Super-Pharm, which just closed its store at the corner of Carlebach and Hahashmonaim. Only a subset of the 180 plus stores scheduled to open in the mall will be open on day 1. On the launching night, the company promised that over 100 stores would be open. The main attractions, such as the COS and Zara Home branches, will not be open on the launching night however; their opening is slated for early April.

The mall was originally scheduled to open in April 2015, but that was postponed several times. According to Gindi TLV CEO Mordi Shabat, the delay was not due to difficulty in finding tenants for the stores. "The late opening of some of the stores resulted from demands by the chains' headquarters overseas, some of them merchants doing business in Israel for the first time, and some of which are undergoing a change in concept," he said, adding, "the engineering complexity of the project, which is part of a complex composed of public centers, not just a shopping center, involves a very difficult engineering challenge, and led to two postponements of the opening date."

Neve Tzedek et l'invasion des Bobos

Interesting piece on public French TV channel France 2 on the invasion of French "Bobos"(bourgeois-bohème), those well-off French Jews leaning on the left and who have either emigrated to Israel or bought a place, just in case....

With almost 10 000 French Jews having moved to Israel last year and even more so having bought a place and now spending many months a year in the Holy Land, it's not surprising that the French influence can be witnessed all over the country.

But some neighbourhoods have been more affected than others and Neve Tzedek, because of its European character and charm, has been more popular than others with the French elite. It's no wonder then that property prices in Deauville have plummeted while those in those hip Israeli neighbourhoods like Neve Tzedek, called by some the "Petit Paris",  have soared....

Israel gets award for innovative LGBT campaign

Israel's Tourism Ministry has been named the winner in an Expedia competition for innovative campaigns aimed at the LGBT community, a statement by the ministry said on Saturday. The prize was presented by Expedia, one of the leading online reservation sites in the world, to representatives from the Israel Tourism Ministry at the world's largest travel trade fair in Berlin.

According to the statement, Israel's Tourism Ministry worked with Expedia Media Solutions to make Tel Aviv an LGBT destination for clients from the UK and Italy. Expedia then created 140 exclusive deals aimed at that particular audience followed it up with strong campaigns aimed at promoting other Israeli destinations.

The campaign led to an increase in all target markets, including a 23 percent increase from clients in the UK. Israeli society is gay friendly, at least in the Tel Aviv area, and some of the legislation and precedent-setting court rulings on gay rights are groundbreaking. But the progress and prominence of the Israeli LGTB community runs counter to the religious underpinnings of Israeli society and clashes continuously with the dramatic march forward of LGBT rights in the West.

Armani Synagogue in White City Residence

Making good on their promise, the developers of White City Residence are now putting the finishing touches on the interior design of the reception area, bar, meeting rooms, gym, pool and Spa.

Fitted with high end furniture from Armani Casa, the space now looks very much like the marketing brochures and CGI animations that were used to sell the property in the first place.

Even the synagogue that was built on the ground floor of the tower exhibits many of those characteristic Armani Casa accents.

While the synagogue was inaugurated in early January in presence Tel Aviv Rabbi, Rabbi Lau, the pool and spa have yet to open formally however. Still with an increasing number of residents starting to move in, the "under construction" feel of the previous months has now all but disappeared.

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Fattal opens super luxury Rothschild 22 hotel

The highly anticipated Rothschild 22 Hotel has just opened its doors, and quickly gained the reputation as one of Tel Aviv’s most coveted luxury hotels. Designed by esteemed architect Ari Shaltiel, the newly designed space embodies the epitome of urban design and sophistication. The hotel’s contemporary interior, and location in the city’s financial and cultural center, makes it an obvious choice for even the most discerning of travellers. Located on the city’s infamous thoroughfare, Rothschild Boulevard, the hotel is just steps from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, as well as the city’s most esteemed cultural institutions, including the Habima Theater and the city’s most prestigious museums. Its location in the heart of UNESCO’s designated ‘White City’ puts Rothschild 22 within reach of city’s award winning restaurants and shops.

Rothschild 22 offers various amenities including its renowned restaurant, Gallery 22, where guests have the option of enjoying a good breakfast. The open kitchen allows guests to view the chefs in action, as they use market ingredients to create modern interpretations of classic Israeli cuisine. Perfect for business meetings and professional gatherings, Rothschild 22’s superior conference rooms provide a well-equipped and contemporary space for any type of professional engagement, or enjoying a drink prior to an exciting Tel Aviv night.

As part of the lauch, Telavivian has teamed up with Rothschild 22 and created a city guide with the top 22 restaurants, bars, galleries and cafes near Rothschild Boulevard. Discover the guide at http://www.hotel-rothschild22.com/blog-en.

Source Telavivian

Unlike other major cities, Tel Aviv embraces Airbnb

Earlier this week at DLD Tel Aviv, the city of Tel Aviv and Airbnb announced a partnership to create a guide to the city that includes layers of interactive content.

Airbnb, which connects travelers with hosts in cities around the world, said in an announcement this week that it is the company’s first partnership with a municipality on a city guide.

The company has already produced guides to 22 other cities but in direct partnering with hosts. The guide of Tel Aviv will include maps, custom photography and an editorial on local things to see and do, as well as tips from Airbnb hosts about local businesses. “Tel Aviv is comprised of small, fascinating neighborhoods that will be showcased through this initiative,” said Hila Oren, CEO and founder of Tel Aviv Global, a company started by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Mayor’s Office dedicated to elevating the city’s global positioning.

What is unusual about this project is the active involvement of the municipality. While other major cities such as San Francisco, Paris and Barcelona have been resisting the amazing growth of the new sharing platform, Tel Aviv is setting itself apart by embracing change.

New Sea One's Royal Beach ups the ante in Tel Aviv

The Royal Beach Tel Aviv, a new hotel in Tel Aviv, opened its doors in May. Located on the beachfront by the famous promenade, it is just a leisurely stroll from the city’s major entertainment and dining destinations. But if you are staying at the Royal Beach, you will no doubt be inclined to remain in the vicinity of this luxury hotel. Part of the prestigious Isrotel Exclusive Collection, which includes the Royal Beach Eilat, the Carmel Forest Spa Resort and the Beresheet desert resort, this new hotel offers a wide range of rooms and services for different needs. The various rooms and suites types are tailored to suit the diverse needs and desires of guests who visit the big city, be they businesspeople, honeymooners or vacationing families.

None of the rooms are small, ranging from 28 to 95 square meters. The spacious rooms and suites all overlook the sea, and most have a balcony with a panoramic sea view. Guests are invited to sink into the comfortable balcony furniture and enjoy the gentle breeze and the captivating golden sunsets every evening. The hotel’s 230 rooms and suites are the creation of master international hotel designer Harald Klein, who has left his distinctive mark on urban hotels worldwide. Klein’s avant-garde hotel concepts draw together the delights and comforts of contemporary urban design, cutting-edge technologies and the desire to provide guests with warm hospitality and the experience of sheer luxury and relaxation. In a Klein design, even the smallest details, such as light fixtures, closets, desks and TV, are given full consideration, which makes all the difference.

Namal Tel Aviv to turn into a real port

Namal Tel Aviv is to receive a NIS 100m investment over the next 5 years that will turn it into a port once again and for the first time since 1930.

Also included in the investment is a major expansion of the already very popular destination. The project will add new shops, 4,000 sqm of new office space, a large gym, a ferris wheel similar to the one that is so popular in London, a boutique hotel with 45 rooms as well as cinemas. And out of the NIS 100 million investment, NIS 30 million will be dedicated to turn the port itself into a marina with 120 berths.

ECOntainer Bridge wins Ariel Sharon Park competition

Yoav Messer Architects proposal won the Ariel Sharon Metropolitan Park design competition for a pedestrian & cycling entrance bridge connecting the mountain above the Ayalon river. The design features recycling of containers for an ECOntainer bridge, which fits in with the recycling stations and recycling plants already present as part of recycling the waste mountain into the park and its main theme. Far from being simply a conveyance over a body of water, the ECOntainer Bridge is an attraction unto itself. It features numerous observation points and exhibition spaces, making it into a fascinating space rather than just a way to get from one side of the park to the other. Available only to pedestrians and light vehicles, the bridge will be a tranquil structure free of cars.

The new Tel Aviv Tayelet is coming

Work on the new Tayelet in Tel Aviv has just started. The major upgrade that has been in the pipe for a couple of years now and whose objective is to make the beach promenade more attractive and in line with the upgraded Tel Aviv Port (Namal) is now in motion. You can find below images of the works as well as some renders of the expected result.

Enjoy!

Construction to finally start at David Promenade

Henry Taic has begun construction of the David Promenade Residences project on Tel Aviv's seafront, ten years after buying the land and years after Taic announced the project. The two building project is being built on an eight-dunam (two-acre) lot between Herbert Samuel Street, Hayarkon Street and Trumpeldor Street, right next to the Opera tower. Each building will have 26 floors; one building will have 60 apartments, and the other will be a hotel managed by Swiss chain Kempinski AG.

Royal Beach Hotel to finally open in March 2013

The Isrotel group announced today that its new Royal Beach luxury hotel located within the Sea One has started accepting bookings from May 1st onward. Prices start at $340 per room, breakfast included. The official opening is March 1st. The new hotel boasts 230 rooms and suites across the beach of Tel Aviv and was designed by German interior designer Harald Klein, who is a leading interior architect and who has extensive experience in designing some of the best hotels in the world. With 23 floors, the hotel will offer its hosts spacious rooms of various types, most of which with sea view, modern communication services, gourmet kosher food, an innovative bar, a large swimming pool overlooking the sea, a state of the art spa and a business lounge.

"I believe the new hotel will be a leader in Tel Aviv. I have no doubt that once opened, the values that will define the Royal Beach Hotel in Tel Aviv will be: quality, excellence and luxury" said Lior Raviv, the CEO of Isrotel.

Royal Beach Hotel Tel Aviv will part of the growing luxury segment of the Istrotel group that includes such hotels as Royal Beach Hotel Eilat, the Carmel Forest and the Genesis Hotel in Mitzpe Ramon.

Source Megafon

Tel Aviv makes list of world's 10 best beach cities

Despite recent threats by the Tel Aviv Municipality to close six of the city's 13 beaches due to a labor dispute with the lifeguards, the city's beaches have been given an international thumbs-up by National Geographic in a recent list of "10 Great Urban Beaches."

The list, originally published on the Smartertravel.com website, writes: "If Jerusalem is Israel's responsible, buttoned-up firstborn child, then Tel Aviv is the fun, freewheeling youngest sibling. On warm days, Tel Avivians are quick to hit the city's 13 beaches that span more than eight miles along the Mediterranean."

Tel Aviv listed third by Conde Nast for its architecture

Rome didn’t make the list but Tel Aviv did. The internationally recognized Conde Nast Traveler magazine has listed 14 cities every architecture lover must visit. Tel Aviv won the number three spot.

“Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tel Aviv’s ‘White City’ contains 4,000 International Style buildings, many of which were built in the 1930s and 1940s,” the website reported. The city is considered a beacon of town planning in the early part of the 20th century and a leading example of the trends of the Modern Movement in architecture.

Ritz Carlton in Herzliya now fetches $15,000 per sqm

Foreign residents bought three apartments in the Ritz Carlton hotel and residential project at the Herzliya Marina for NIS 19.8 million. The project is being built by Tidhar Ltd. and Adis Investments Ltd.

A Swiss businessman bought a 141-square meter apartment with a 15-square meter balcony on the project's ninth floor for NIS 8.2 million, at a record price of NIS 58,000 per square meter. A Swiss family bought a 138-square meter duplex with a 40-square meter balcony on the project's ninth and tenth floor for NIS 7.8 million which represents NIS 56,500 per square meter. And an American doctor bought an 85-square meter apartment with a 10-square meter balcony on the seventh floor for NIS 3.8 million or NIS 44,700 per square meter. But under the sale terms, the buyers may reside in the apartments for only six months per year, the apartments being used as hotel suites for rest of the year.

The Herzliya Ritz Carlton is due to open in mid-2013. The 12-storey hotel will have 15 ballrooms on the lower six floors and 82 recreation apartments on the upper six floors.

Source Globes

Gay Pride reaffirms Israel exception in the region

Tens of thousands of people turned out today for Israel's annual gay pride parade, dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv and waving rainbow-coloured flags. Tel Aviv's gay pride, in its 14th year, is such an established tradition that diplomatic delegations send representatives as if the pageant were its own nation: a multi-colored, laughing enclave within the greater, beachside city. An alternate Vatican. Israeli soldiers marched alongside Arabs from Jaffa and Nazareth on Friday. Politicians of all stripes, right to left — from former Kadima Party leader Tsippi Livni to Labor Party head Shelly Yachimovich — gave speeches to the cheerful crowd of over 30,000 people.

American ambassador Dan Shapiro presented himself adorned with a rainbow flag pin on his shirt and, addressing the crowd in Hebrew, said "today is a day of celebration and joy. Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights." Shapiro also underscored "efforts being made" by the Obama administration to rectify injustices against gay men and women in the United States. Homosexuals have always been drafted into the Israeli army, and to the surprise of many conservative American tourists to the Holy Land, neither gay rights nor abortion are sources of contention or controversy in Israel, where the overriding urgency of the country's geo-political problems rules the debate.

The issue of gay rights has on occasion raised hackles in meetings between Americans and Israelis, most notably before the State Department revised its policy on same sex partners of American diplomats. On one occasion, a number of years ago, the Israeli army officer assigned to coordinate security arrangements in the West Bank with an American diplomat burst out in frustration, blurting, "Who are you to come and tell us how we should do things? You think you know everything? You're the one who comes from a country that prevents you from living openly with your boyfriend!" Both, as it happened, were gay.

This year, thousands of tourists participated in the Tel Aviv march, many of them destination gay travelers drawn by Tel Aviv's reputation for liberality and beach night life. Adir Steiner, Tel Aviv City Hall's coordinator for the march, said the Gay Cities poll this year that selected Tel Aviv as the best gay-friendly destination "is a testament to the friendly reception gay tourists can expect in Tel Aviv." Businesses lining the streets of the parade displayed rainbow flags, and cafés put out stands selling takeout coffee to participants. Amer Dacca, 30, from Jaffa, Tel Aviv, said the march was "Fabulous. Wonderful. Amazing. A great, great march, full of color, music and the feeling of freedom. Freedom and safety." "Here, it doesn't matter if you are African-American, Mexican, Arab, Jew, whatever. The only thing that matters is who you are as a human being, as an individual who is outside in the sun, with the music and all the other people, as yourself."