When I asked my colleague what hotel he would recommend for him and his wife to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary (a “double chai”), he answered without hesitation, “R48.” “I think it’s the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at, not just in Israel, but in the whole world!”
After my recent stay, I have to agree.
Located at 48 Rothschild Street in Tel Aviv (hence the name), R48 Hotel and Gardens is an 11-room boutique hotel with meticulously designed interiors housed in a classic Bauhaus-style building that for years was an unsightly ruin used by drug dealers and the homeless.
No more.
Canadian-Jewish billionaire couple Heather Reisman (founder and CEO of Indigo Books & Music) and Gerald Schwartz (chairman of private equity firm Onex) purchased the building in 2012. It’s one of roughly 4,000 boxy Bauhaus buildings dotting the city, giving Tel Aviv its UNESCO World Heritage designation and the nickname “The White City.”
Reisman and Schwartz already own the building next door, which houses the HESEG Foundation, which provides free college tuition to orphaned soldiers in Israel. The Canadians had no experience in hotel management, but they partnered with Ruti and Mati Broud, owners of the R2M Group, a key player in Tel Aviv’s tourism and culinary scene.
R2M operates restaurants, bars, live music venues and boutique hotels such as the Montefiore Hotel, The Norman Tel Aviv Hotel and Poly House Tel Aviv. The outdoor pool at the R48 Hotel in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Brian Blum)
Renovated over the course of a decade, R48, set to open in 2022, is the pinnacle of the growing R2M hospitality empire. “The idea was to make it feel like you’re going to your best friend’s house,” Reisman told Azure Magazine in 2023. That is, when your best friend’s house features rooms starting at $2,000 a night.
Your R48 experience begins even before you arrive.
From reception to guest rooms
“Please send me a message on WhatsApp 10 minutes before you get here and I’ll be waiting for you on the street,” wrote Ariel, the cheery front desk manager who alienated from North America 15 years ago. In fact, she and valet/bellman Max carried our car and luggage for us, a nice touch, as there is no parking at the Rothschild.
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Not only did Ariel check me in and show me the way to the elevator, she also escorted me up to my suite and explained all the high-tech gadgetry I needed to operate: the iPad screen for controlling the lights, air conditioning and blackout shutters, how to “cast” my laptop or iPhone to one of the two flat-screen TVs, and how to operate the suite’s highlight: the Japanese-style toilet. When I opened the bathroom door, the toilet lid lifted automatically and the unit flushed itself. The toilet seat was heated and there were three flush settings: spray, pulse and air dry.
There’s also a second bathroom – the height of luxury.
The minibar was more of a maxi-bar with three drawers filled with drinks and snacks, and the dining room table was stocked with a bottle of wine, a tray of finger sandwiches, olives, and delicious pickled cucumbers, plus two very tasty blueberry muffins.
We stayed in the Garden Suite, a mid-level room for R48, but there was nothing “middle” about this room – at 80 square metres, it was bigger than our first apartment in Israel. At 6,400 NIS a night, it was about a month’s rent, more expensive than the Bauhaus Suite (“only” 3,500 NIS) but cheaper than the Penthouse (minimum price: 10,500 NIS).
Furnishings in the suites and throughout the hotel are by Liaigre (the studio of French architect Christian Liaigre) in tulipwood, asamela and walnut, and a tranquil garden off the front lobby was designed by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf, who also designed New York’s High Line elevated linear park.
When we visited, we were in the middle of the tense “waiting period” after Israeli targeted assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, before Hezbollah and Iran threatened retaliation. We debated for days whether it would be wise to vacation in Tel Aviv, the supposed epicenter of the attacks. Our compromise was to stay near a hotel and bomb shelter. Instead of exploring the city, we lounged in the rooftop pool surrounded by trees.
For breakfast, don’t expect a traditional Israeli buffet with endless rows of fish, cheese and eggs – the buffet is served at the table. There were tasty muffins, a wide variety of breads and rolls, and omelettes piled high with smoked salmon. Even though there was no all-you-can-eat atmosphere, we left with full bellies.
Elevators rarely become tourist attractions, but the R48’s is something special. When the team from AN+ Architects were working on the design, one of the original staircases was beyond repair. In its place, they built a 360-degree glass elevator that’s essentially a room, complete with sofas and a giant book of Annie Liebowitz photographs. Works by famous Israeli artists, including Ori Gersht, Tal Shochat, and Anis Ashkar, are featured throughout the hotel.
If I had any complaints it would be just one – the windows in our room were not particularly soundproof and we could hear the sounds of the street (and the garbage trucks sounded like air raid sirens).
So is the R48 the “best hotel in the world”? It’s definitely at the top of my list, and I highly recommend putting it on your list the next time you visit Tel Aviv.
The author was a guest at the hotel.
