Royal Shangri-La Eilat ups the luxury in Red Sea paradise town
While they might not have coconut drinks, chances are you probably won’t mind as you sink into your mountainous poolside seaside lounge, seizing the day as it was intended.
By ZACHARY KEYSERReoyal Shangri-La Eilat(photo credit: Courtesy)
Situated upon a mountaintop overlooking the Eilat coast rests the seventh addition of the Nakash Group’s Herbert Samuel’s Hotel chain dubbed the Royal Shangri-La Eilat Hotel, a unique high-end luxury Red Sea resort which seeks to set standards for the hotel tourism industry within the Israeli paradise town.The name accompanies the service you receive, 24-hour royal accommodation room and concierge service, a hospitality lounge with full meals, a rich buffet and drink service open all-day from 7 a.m.-5 a.m. (breakfast 7 a.m.-11 a.m.), in-room spa treatments, multiple bright-blue swimming pools spread throughout the grounds of the hotel including an infinity pool overlooking the Red Sea, 24-hour transportation via tuk tuk throughout the village – which in itself includes its own marketplace – shared with the Orchid Hotel Eilat and even the option for a daily personal assistant if you so desire.“We created a beautiful hotel here, named the Royal Shangri-La, with 53 villas and rooms. Some of them have private pools and jacuzzis, and large-scale luxury rooms. We have a beautiful [infinity] pool for the guests and a lounge with service almost all day,” Vice President of the Nakash Group Ran Balbaus told The Jerusalem Post. “So, we were very excited that we have the ability to initiate a new tier of hotels in Israel. Eilat is a beautiful city, welcoming the most tourists year in and out, and we believe by opening the Royal Shangri-La we bring a new message of what a hotel experience should and can be like in Israel.”Upon your approach, you are brought up the mountain via a tuk tuk until you arrive at what at any other hotel you would call a lobby, but here you can call it an outdoor courtyard reception area. The foyer is a grass yard filled with sculptures of animals in elegant poses like stags and bucking goats – within the field lies several rocking chairs suspended from the ground, and a few of the premier villa spaces behind it.As you walk further, you are greeted by the lounge and the official hotel reception area. Within that space are two large open-air rooms, one with a seating area and the hotel reception staff.The other room is a large lounge and buffet area filled with multiple dishes that have their own Israeli-taste and some dishes that have a home style feel to them, as well as an assortment of desserts, drinks, snacks – anything you might need and if you don’t find what you’re looking for you only need to ask, and they will square you away.Outside the lounge there is a multiple level infinity pool that at night shines bright blue, two masseurs and a seating bar overlooking the spectacular view of the Red Sea.As mentioned above the view from hotel was stunning and it is best to describe it from the villa.If you open the curtains the first thing you see standing there is a forest of the tops of palm trees surrounding the villa and runs on throughout the village you’re staying in; when you look beyond that you can see the sandy beaches and the year-round warm waters of Eilat, which undoubtedly gives you perfect view figure out a spot to lay out in the sun later on; after you further your view just a bit you’re locking eyes with the vast waters of biblical legend in the Red Sea; and on the other side of that which is the most exciting addition is the clear view of the coasts of both Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The view from the villa takes an even more peaceful turn at nightfall as you can see the lights gleaming from the two neighboring Arab states across the darkness of the Red Sea – all from your comfort of your bed.The villas themselves include large open rooms with high ceilings and large windows grabbing hold of the spectacular view. The rooms include a king-sized bed, a shower and a bath, full closet with many trinkets and useful accommodations awaiting within, a full mini bar and outside a balcony complete with a jacuzzi and a sunbed behind a privacy wall for personal discrete tanning.The Royal Shangri-La hotel village was originally of the Orchid Hotel Eilat, however, the Herbert Samuels group decided the split the hotel into two featuring a hotel with renovated villas, rooms, facilities and more – all with the upgraded status of service, to make to you feel like you are royalty.“The purpose of the transformation of the original hotel structure and the establishment of two separate hotels is to emphasize the luxury and upgrade in experience you get at the Royal Shangri-La Hotel, which most of its rooms will look out to sea. Like all Herbert Samuel hotels, we upgraded our stay experience and set a new standard of luxury and hospitality in the hopes our guests to enjoy every moment they stay with us,” said Avi Hurmero, CEO of Nakash Group in Israel.The hotel staff themselves were professional, accommodating and most importantly, make it their mission while on duty to ensure that you have everything you need throughout your stay.“What we truly – with our heart and soul – try to bring to the guests who come here is the full hospitality experience. From the moment they check in to the moment they check out,” Balbaus told the Post, adding that “unlike in many hotels our lounge includes an all-day buffet that turns from breakfast, into brunch, then into a European style dinner with a dessert buffet. With the addition of our 24-hour service, we hope they will feel as they have everything they need right here in the hotel and that they feel at welcomed and at home during their stay.”“When you recruit staff that understand that they have to make a personal connection with the guests you actually get a lot of enthusiasm. You truly believe that when you have a wonderful staff that understands true hospitality then you add a new level to the hospitality industry in Israel.”The Shangri-La provides the closest thing to a “hotel island paradise treatment” in Israel, where the staff are there for your every whim, doing everything besides feeding you drinks out of a coconut.While they might not have coconut drinks, chances are you probably won’t mind as you sink into your mountainous poolside seaside lounge, seizing the day as it was intended.Rooms are NIS 1,200 midweek, NIS 1,500 for weekend villas.The writer was a guest of the hotel.
