Lifta Boutique Hotel & Spa

A Valley of Empty Stone Houses, and Six Suites Above It

Lifta is the strangest address in Jerusalem. A stone village stands empty in a valley on the western edge of the city, its houses and terraces left among fig trees and spring water, and the whole valley is a nature reserve. The hotel occupies restored architecture at the top of it and keeps only six suites. What that buys is a quiet the city cannot offer fifteen minutes away: original domed ceilings overhead, hills through the window, and no lobby traffic, because with six suites there is no traffic to speak of. It is closer to a private house than to a hotel.

Why It Works

We kept Lifta Boutique because it does one thing completely. Six suites, couples only, each with a private balcony over the valley: there is no attempt to also serve families, groups or business travellers, and the property is stronger for the refusal. The wellness side is not a token either, with a transparent pool, a jacuzzi and a sauna rather than a treatment room squeezed into a corridor. Breakfast is served in the suite. The guest sample is still small, which is worth knowing, but what exists holds the house at 9.3 out of ten.

Why This Location

Fifteen minutes separate the hotel from central Jerusalem, and those fifteen minutes are the entire proposition. Below the building the reserve carries walking trails through the old village, past the spring and the terraces, which is the rarest thing to have under a hotel window in this city. Above it, the western entrance to Jerusalem puts the centre, the market and the light rail within an easy drive. You will want a car, and parking is on site. In exchange you get hills, birdsong and no street noise at all.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Adults only, stone and quiet, restorative

• Rooms: Six suites across two levels, each with a private balcony, a domed ceiling, a free standing bath and a fully fitted kitchen

• Best For: Couples, anniversaries, travellers happy to treat Jerusalem as a day trip

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The transparent pool, with the valley and its empty village underneath it

• Dining: Breakfast served in the suite, bar, room service

• Amenities: Pool, jacuzzi, sauna, spa day packages, garden and terrace, parking, adults only throughout

• Attractions: The Lifta nature reserve and its trails immediately below, central Jerusalem about fifteen minutes away by car

Domed Ceilings, Free Standing Baths, Private Balconies

The six suites are spread over two levels and none of them is a standard room stretched to fit. The original domed ceilings survived the restoration, which gives the interiors their volume and their acoustics; beneath them the fittings are contemporary, with a large free standing bath in the room rather than behind a door, a serious bed and a fully equipped kitchen. Each suite has its own balcony, and the balcony is where the stay actually happens. Panoramic is an overused word. Here it is simply the shape of the view.

The Pool, the Jacuzzi and the Sauna

Wellness is the second half of the offer and it is built in rather than bolted on. The pool is the piece guests come for, transparent and set over the green, with the jacuzzi and the sauna alongside. Spa day packages combine treatments with use of the facilities, and because there are only six suites the wet areas are rarely busy. Room service and a bar cover the rest of the day, and breakfast comes to the suite rather than to a dining room.

What to Know Before You Book

This is an adults only house: children are not accepted, and neither are pets. Check-in runs from 15:00 to 20:00, narrower than most, and check-out from 07:00 to 11:00, so a late arrival needs arranging in advance. Staff work in Hebrew and English. There is no step free access. Six suites means the calendar fills early around holidays and weekends, and the kitchens make longer stays workable if you want to settle in for several nights.