HI - Ein Gedi Hostel

view, proximity to the sea and the nature reserve helpful staff

lights in the rooms - to bright loudness from teenagers low food quality

We unfortunately could not enjoy the breakfast as we were underway again to Masada, but the diner is well equipped as it is frequently used by large groups of schoolchildren. It is situated really close to the Ein Gedi spring which is great.

Due to sinkholes, it was not possible to visit the dead sea in this location anymore. The checkin was a little problematic, as we didn't see a sign to the office, which is hidden behind some other buildings. The man greeting us however was very friendly.

Great location, Ein Gedi Reserve is just a few minutes walk. We arrived around 11 am, but our room has already been cleaned, so we could check in, which was cool because we had big bags. Room for two (but there are four beds total) with terrace. Hot water and comfy beds. The breakfast is phenomenal; open buffet, there is a lot to choose from.

A lot of flies, but I don't know what can you do to them. After all, it wasn't that disturbing for us.

The facility is great! It is located in proximity to the nature reserve so you just need a quick stroll to get to the different walking paths. The rooms are not fancy but effective and we didn't miss a thing. It is in the middle of a desert so it is very quiet except when the IAF do their maneuvers which is pretty cool. The surrondings are beautiful with the dead sea and the mountains on the Jordanian side on one side and the judean desert right next to you on the other side which creates spectacular sunrises and sundowns. The meals were like the kibbutznik meals I had as a kid when visiting with my grand parents. Salads and schnitzel for dinner and salads and cheese for breakfast. Great!

The service. It just might be the an experience of the israeli service mindedness that I haven't experienced before in my manymany trips to Israel but you had to drag out all information from the staff. The clearest example is the case of dinner tickets: When arriving at the reception I asked about how dinner worked - Do we need to pre-order, which time is it served, how much does it cost etc. So when going to the cantina at dinner time we queue for 5-10min to get a seating and get informed that we need to buy dinner tickets at the RECEPTION so we go to the reception and queue for another 15min to buy the tickets and go back again to the cantina. With two kids that waiting was very long and totally unnecessary and ticked me off.

We really enjoyed this location and would gladly return. It's located in the middle of a national park and has an exceptional view and access.

The food is pretty simple and the location is hard to find.