Day 1: Getting to and staying at Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center Hotel

Booked our stay in Tel Aviv online. With no friends been to Tel Aviv before, it was difficult to decide where to stay. Tel Aviv isn't a big city, but I want to stay in the most convenient area. At the end, I chose Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center (Stay 1). (I thought this would be a wise choice, but I was pretty wrong - pros and cons at the end)

There are 2 Crowne Plaza hotels in Tel Aviv. One by the beach and one in city center. We stayed at the one in city center which is within the Azrieli Mall complexes. There are 3 tall buildings in the complex, a round, a square and a triangle. The Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center is in the triangle building. To get to the hotel from airport is really quite easy. Just take the train to Hashalom Station, just 2 stops away from the airport and is about 15 minutes ride. The only tricky thing is that almost everything is in Hebrew and English signs are not very clear. However, people in Tel Aviv are super friendly and helpful. It's like people in Vancouver 20 years ago. People would eagerly walk up to you and ask if they can help (in a non creepy way).

The single ride ticket from the airport to Hashalom Station is 9 NIS (Shekels). We paid with our credit at the ticketing machine. The tricky thing after getting the ticket is finding which platform to go to. Since we know zero Hebrew and the characters all look the same to us, it's just best to ask people and/or staff. People are super kind and friendly. They may look tall, big and tough, which may seem intimidating, but most of them are really nice people. Definitely not the type of people I would see in Hong Kong. People in Hong Kong are generally hostile and mean --> Probably because there are many scammers on the streets, so Hongers tends to be more cautious when they see strangers.

The elevator buttons are in Hebrew. Just need common sense to use. Since the platform is on the lower floor, just press the bottom button...

There was no way we would know which platform to wait for the train. So, just asked the people. Not only did they tell us which platform to wait, they also made sure we got off the correct station and asked where we wanted to go, so we would get to the correct exit when we arrived at Hashalom Station. The hospitality from people in Tel Aviv is something I have never experienced in my life. We were almost shocked by people's friendliness.

Really, it's quite sad....we coming from a city where people always need to be careful of each other, expecting almost every strangers to be a pick pocketer or a scammer on the street.....

Also, most of the things we see on TV and the internet is about the negative side of Israel, making us felt unsafe before going to Israel. So, we were extra shocked when we experienced the overly kindness from people in Tel Aviv.

The screen about the route on the train is displayed in 3 languages, English, Hebrew and Arabic. So, we knew where we were heading.

We arrived before we knew it. There is a bridge connecting the Hashalom Station to the Azrieli Center, which is where Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center Hotel is in. Its about a 5 minutes walk. Enter the mall, take the escalator to the ground floor, and head to the triangle building entrance.

We just booked the standard room with two twin beds. Quite spacious and has a small window with some view of the city.

Got the usual amenities.

Washroom is quite spacious as well. It's a 5 star rating on many online hotel booking platform. However, don't expect it to be a normal luxury hotel. It feels more like a 3.5 to 4 stars hotel. I think it's a cultural difference thing. It's still a pretty good hotel, but definitely not a "5 star" hotel.

The drainage is poor. The bathroom floods after each shower even after we asked staffs to come in to fix. House keeping isn't spotless, but acceptable. Just consider it to be a 3 star hotel, and there should be no complaints.

The hotel provides free shuttle to the beach side.

View from our room. Tel Aviv seems like it's going to major upgrade. So many constructions happening.

Crowne Plaza City Center Pros:

Connected to Hashalom Station, which is 2 stops, 10 minute rides, from the airport
Connected to the Azrieli Mall which would have everything you need except for any Luxury brands
Walking distance to Sarona Market
2 minutes walk to bus stops that would take you to the beach side
Affordable and decent
Has free shuttle to the beach
Has admin fee-free currency exchange. Exchange rate is way better than at the airport

Crowne Plaza City Center Cons:

3.5 km from the nearest beach which is a 45 minutes walk
Nothing is opened in the area during Shabbat - no food whatsoever. Things on the beach side would be opened though.
Multiple demonstrations/protests on a weekly basis, stopping trains from operation at Hashalom Station

I think this hotel would be good for business trip when office is just around the corner. However, definitely choose the hotels on the beach side if it's a complete leisure trip. It's impossible to walk to the beach from city center when it;s 40 C in the summer.

Places on map:

Other 2: Hashalom Station

Giv'at HaTahmoshet St 10, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Stay 1: Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center Hotel

Azrieli Center, 136, Menahem Begin Rd 5, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 6701104, Israel

Day 1: Flying on Emirates, Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv City Center, Jaffa City, Jaffa Flea Market, Seafood Restaurant Sultan Ibrahim, Park Hatachana and Vicki Cristina

Day 2: Azrieli Center, Food court in Azrieli Mall, Train to Jerusalem, Light rail in Jerusalem, Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem Old City, Pita in Jerfusalem, demonstration in Azrieli Center

Day 3: Cafe Xoho, Carmel Market, Dizengoff Center, Hamosad Burger

Day 4: Free bus on Shabbat, Turkish shawarma, salad time, Gordon Beach, grocery store, Sarona Market, outside of Sarona Market

Day 5: Bahadunas hummus bar, Greg Cafe

Day 6: Breakfast at DNA, Greek food at Greco

Day 7: Beach Promenade to Tel Aviv Port, Just Beef