What is the travel time from Tel Aviv to Beer Sheva by car? Also, Can you suggest a decent hotel or B&B?

Thank you.

The bus takes an hour and a half, no stops.

Have a look at these hotels...
http://www.bedandbreakfasts.net/isra...City=Beersheba
Sorry I don't have first hand experience. I can't imagine any b&b's in Beer Sheva as it is not a major tourist destination. Maybe I am wrong...I will try to find out.

KatPen is right. Since you will have a car, you should widen your room search to Arad and kibbutz guest houses in the area.

I would gladly widen my search.

My wife and I will be arriving in Tel Aviv Sunday, 15 March, and need to link up with our tour group the following Friday. I need to visit a very sick relative in Be'er Sheva at least once in the interim. So long as that can be accomplished, I'm very open to staying somewhere else.

My wife and I are in our mid-60s and healthy. I know nothing about Arad, but I'd love to find some scenic kibbutz in the Negev.

By googling one is able to find 3 hotels in Beer Sheva. Check this link out - http://www.weekend.co.il/?lang=EN
You can use it to search accomodation in the Negev area, rural or city...

Are you renting a car just for this or do you intend to do more travelling before your tour starts? I really have not found any kibbutz guest houses in the area, and there is not a whole lot to do or see in Beer Sheva or Arad. Further afield ther is the Dead Sea or Mitzpe Ramon...but these are at least one or more hour's drive from Beer Sheva. There is a small, but interesting museum on Bedouin culture near Beer Sheva, the Joe Alon museum...
http://www.joealon.org.il/english/eng_home.htm
If you will be driving up and down from Tel Aviv, you might enjoy this. If you decide not to drive, the train takes just over 1 hour 20 minutes. Sorry I can't be more help on the accommodation.

Thank you for the link to the Joe Alon museum. I will be renting a car, so the museum will be easily accessible.

It's frustrating that there seems to be so very little information on accommodations in the Northern Negev. Oh well ...

I don't think the problem is so little information...I think the problem is so little accommodation. They really are few and far between. Good luck

I found a tourism web-site on the Negev.
http://www.negev-tour.co.il/eng/enmain.html
The English site isn't as informative as the Hebrew, so here are 2 options from the Hebrew site. Both are on a kibbutz but a bit of a drive from Beer Sheva. The first is called Mashabim and has its own web site...
http://www.mashabim.co.il/eng/index2.html
The second is on Kibbutz Kramim (I hope they spell it like that in English) and I only have a phone number...972-8-6597111 or email
[email protected]. They appear to have 5 wooden cabins (with jacuzzi) as well as 30 guest rooms.
Hope this helps.

Thank you. Kibbutz Kramim was also recommended by a speaker from Kibbutz Lotan. More information is available at http://negba.net/default.aspx

We are making arrangements to stay there. I'll let you folks know what we find ...