tel aviv hotels
 

I am traveling to Israel in June with my husband and grown sons. Has anyone stayed at the Alexander suites, Sheraton Mariah Tel Aviv or the Abratel suites? Getting mixed reviews on the Sheraton and no reviews for the other two. Any other suggestions for hotels on the beach in Tel Aviv.

Sheraton Hotels in general in Israel are not top quality anymore. Don't know about the other two, but tell me your budget and I might be able to suggest something else.

Has anyone stayed at the Tel Aviv Hilton recently? The reviews on Trip Advisor are not good, but most complaints seem to be about the costs of things like internet & the gym. Wanted to know more about the rooms, breakfasts, and service.

In general you can trust any of the Hilton chain's hotels. Hilton runs it very tight... Sheraton is another story, their quality can vary quite a lot.

Try Dan (Panorama) i've heard some good things about them

Last month I stayed at Dan Panorama. It was very nice indeed and the location was perfect. I would stay there again. Great breakfast too.

I would book the Dan Panorama and or Inter Continetal. You can walk to old Yaffo and the scenery is great. Be sure to stop at "Etsel Pini Bachtzer"[At Pini's in the yard"] for a great Moroccan meal.

Upon departure from Ben Gurion airport & after purchasing some great Ahava products at the Duty free store,all were confiscated prior to boarding, during a hand luggage check. I was surprised, because I was assured that it was permitted to take on board to Atl on DL. Has this occured before?

It's a new rule, no more then 3 oz bottles in 1 zipper plastic bag per passenger.

boobala and FainaAgain, the confusion gets worse since both to and from the US (and other countries now, I think including the UK) you can only bring, as mentioned one SMALL quart size zippered bag with 3 oz or less packages of liquids and gels.
The strange part is that FROM the US, you can buy items at the duty free shop and take on board as these items are considered pre-checked and apporved. I had heard that it was not allowed from other airports TO the US, but you'd think they'd trust and accept Israeli security for these types of things.

Yes, you also have to be careful, even if they let you on the plain with the expensive Vodka, or any other LIQUID you bought at the TLV Duty Free, once you're in Europe, getting to board your USA-bound flight, in MOST European airports, they will CONFISCATE it all from you....

We had the same experience actually going TO TLV, changing planes in Frankfurt... I had a heated exchange with the "security" woman, who hardly spoke English but wouln't let me take LIQUOR-FILLED CHOCOLATE because she regarded it as liquid.... I was hoping that flying El-Al would mean security would be all their responsibility, but I was wrong...

At the end, after telling her I am not departing from the chocolate ("you'll take it home for your family" I told her), a policeman who was fluent in English and very polite, helped me "negotiate" a settlement. We opened the package and split those little chocolate "bottles" among us 3 in our party.

Since Israel is not a EU country, you won't be able to carry on Duty Free purchases on the connecting flight if you have to go through an European city.

I flew direct from TLV to London, loaded with duty free wine at Ben Gurion duty free with no problem.

In general, I'm weary to bring in liquid to US bound flights--though London duty-free allegedly allows US bound passengers to purchase liquid. Maybe Israel-US does not have the protocol to allow this.

The issue is not customs. The issue is SECURITY. If you fly from TLV to the USA via Europe and you purchase a bottle of Vodka in the TLV Duty Free, when you change planes in Europe, by going thru SECURITY -- you may have your Vodka confiscated.

Or if you fly from the USA to TLV via Europe, and go thru security again in Europe, your Vodka may be confiscated.

You fly from Miami to Frankfurt via Paris? Your Vodka will probably be confiscated in Paris (which actually happened to the German policeman in Frankfurt, as he told ne after the incident we had there)...

I tell you, those Security personnel in Europen airports must be taking home LOTS OF GOODY-GOODIES every night....