Take a glass to the fifth-floor rooftop garden to chill or sunbathe; work off your snacks in the surprisingly large fitness center, complete with underground sauna.
By BRIAN BLUMThe Artist Hotel stands on Ben-Yehuda Street, a block away from Tel Aviv's Bograshov Beach.(photo credit: BRIAN BLUM)
You’ll come for the art but stay for the meticulously designed rooms in the latest boutique hotel in the Atlas chain. The 56-room Artist Hotel, located a block from Tel Aviv’s Bograshov Beach and an easy 10-minute walk from Dizengoff Square, opened just two months ago, at the end of December.Formerly known as the Art Plus, the hotel went through a complete renovation that makes it one of the funkiest and friendly boutique properties in the city.The art connection for both hotels runs through Israeli art collector Doron Sebbag, who owns the property itself. The collection is intended to change every few months. The first iteration includes site-specific pieces on each of the hotel’s five floors, along with video installations in the public areas. Among the initial artists are Shay Silberman, Hilla Toony Navok, Olaf Kuhnemann and Maayan Elyakim. Tours with the curator are available on request. Twelve of the rooms have artwork inside as well.We stayed in a “regular” room (no artwork) but were delighted with the small touches: a wooden coat rack (not just hangers in a closet), electric trisim (blinds) that work better than typical hotel black-out curtains, a walk-in waterfall shower, your own Nespresso coffee maker, parquet floors and double-glazed windows that block out the noise from busy Ben-Yehuda Street below. Because everything is so new, there are no cracks or wear and tear. We hope it stays that way!There are also a host of eco-friendly moves, from a key card made from bamboo (“the tree grows a meter a day,” explained Igor at the front desk), shampoo bottles that are refilled (rather than the little plastic ones that get trashed after a single use), glass instead of plastic cups, and free seven-speed bikes to tool around Tel Aviv (“to reduce the use of private vehicles,” says amiable hotel manager Oded Kaufman).When you get back from your ride, catch the afternoon happy hour (complete with homemade soup and psychedelically colored French macaroons) or the “Happy Day” with free wine “on tap” from noon to 10:00 pm. Take a glass to the fifth-floor rooftop garden to chill or sunbathe; work off your snacks in the surprisingly large fitness center, complete with underground sauna.Like the rest of the hotel, the breakfast is boutique, meaning it’s fresh and focused, if not as lavish as one of the five-star hotels lining the nearby beach. In this case, less choice is more.The Artist is not the only hotel in Israel with an art theme; the Elma Arts Complex has nearly twice as many rooms and a wider collection of paintings, sculpture and mixed media pieces, plus an acoustically perfect performance hall that hosts top Israeli musicians. However, it’s in pastoral, but far-off Zichron Ya’acov, not downtown Tel Aviv.Launch price for bed and breakfast at the Artist is currently under $200 per couple. In the sky-high city that never sleeps, that’s a good deal even without the artistic extras.The writer was a guest of the hotel.
