A 5-hour vacation at the Dead Sea

March 26, 2009 - 11:15 AM by

One way to stay afloat in Israel..

One way to stay afloat in Israel..

I don’t know if they have them where you are, but hotels in Israel have something called ‘Yom Kef’ – fun days. For a usually modest fee, you get to be a guest at the hotel for the day, but without a room.

Having not been away together in ages, and no chance on the horizon, my wife and I identified a quick window yesterday, and scooted an hour down the Dead Sea to the Ein Bokek strip of hotels. We had some discount ticket for the Ganim Hotel, and ‘checked in’ at around 10:30 am.

They give you a ticket for their spa, coupon for cake and cofee in the lounge, and entry to the dining room for a sumptuous buffet lunch. What could be finer? Instead of a room, you get a locker with a key in the changing room, where you can store your stuff, and shower.

The spa included a number of options – two indoor Dead Sea pools, filled with the minerals and aromas we’ve come to know and love; a couple indoor jacuzzis, a decent-sized gym with a number of contraptions, and a huge, Olympic-sized outdoor pool. All the other stuff, like massages, Dead Sea mud treatments, etc.. cost extra.

Most of the other guests – those actually paying to stay in the hotel, and those like us, who parachuted in for the day – were on the other side of 60. And they succeeded in making us feel both young and thin.

After an hour and a half switching back and forth between the Dead Sea pools and the jacuzzi, we layed back in the recliners by the outdoor fresh water pool in the 75 degree Farenheit sun and read for a while, munching on our cake and coffee.

The outdoor pool was a bit nippy for us, but there were some gallant souls doing laps. Instead, we worked up an appetite for lunch by taking a walk along the beach and checking out some of the shopping tourist traps along Ein Bokek.

Naturally, I stuffed myself at lunch, with a number of entrees and salads to gorge on. And by mid-afternoon, we were headed back home, totally relaxed and reinvigorated by our 5-hour vacation.

And it looks like I’ll be headed back there sooner than I thought. When I arrived home, I realized that I still had the key to my locker in my pocket. Big deal, right? However, I had given in my ID card (teudat zehut) to get the key.

So Ganim Hotel, here we come again.

Tags: , , • Category: Environment, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel 

Comments

5 Comments on A 5-hour vacation at the Dead Sea

  1. Katherine on Sat, Mar 28th 2009 4:35 PM

    2. I did the same at Hotel Daniella in Herzilliya – kindly donated them my drivers licence. They posted it back to me though – any chance Hotel Ganim can do the same for you?

  2. michael L on Sun, Mar 29th 2009 12:02 AM

    3. I was wondering if you had some info on prices or contact info for the package deal? It sounds great!

  3. Dead Sea Mud Lady on Mon, Mar 30th 2009 3:10 PM

    4. This looks like a great place to vacation. I have researched all the Hotels and I really plan to go this Fall. I hope that is a good time to go. I want to float in the Real Dead Sea instead of just my at home bath tub. lol :)

  4. ronnie gold on Fri, Apr 3rd 2009 11:30 PM

    5. This sounds wonderful !How do you make a reservervation and what is the price?

  5. myriam seewald on Tue, Jul 14th 2009 1:37 PM

    6. we tried yesterday the isrotel at the dead sea
    it was great
    for 290 shekel u can enter the hotel yom kef
    u get a massage of 25 min , a super lunch, rides to the beach and back
    shower, locker , swimming pool
    there is a package for 360 shekel with a massage of 1h
    u call in the morning or before u book with your creditcardnumber u can pay cash on arrival
    u can get there with the egged bus it stops at the hotel

    does anyone know of any hotel in jerusalem which offers such a deal ?

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap