Ramon Suites by Smart Hotels

The crew was kind and welcoming, and the lobby is cozy and clean. Photos of the rooms and of the amenities are obnoxiously misleading. In reality, we met awkward room layout, with the bed shoved all the way to the wall, so there is no room for a twin bedside cabinet, just a useless power outlet (see photo), a safe that is entirely detached (see photo), and a cramped and moldy bathroom with a power-cord hanging over the door (see photos). Breakfast was inedible, with vegetables that were between stale and outright rotten, cold bread with no facility whatsoever to heat it, cold tasteless pancakes, and self-served hot beverages with no teaspoon provided (other than cheap disposable ones, which are unsuited for hot drinks). None of those shortcomings requires more than moderate cost for fixing, but the impression we got is that nobody really cares.

This is not a hotel Let's start with that, this is a hostel. And for a hostel that charges around 700 ILS per night, it is ok. But.. This is published as a hotel... Charges for 2200 per night... The room is not clean, the toilet is awful Lots of rust and many old hairs of other people. The mattress is old and cheap from the kind you buy in 500 ils on Bnei Brak.. The TVs are old and not all the rooms are with air conditioners... We got to the room at 18:00 and in my room, the balcony door did not close. The safe is not sealed into the wall. The pool is very very small and not clean without any lifeguards... Even when we got the rooms there was no towels. Good stuff: Air conditioner worked There was hot water There was a microwave in the room. The breakfast was worth than on my army service, but no decent coffee. It seems they are out of staff and we sat with no room to move..

This is one of the accommodations which has sprung up in the small town close to the Mitspe Ramon Crater. It is comfortable and well-designed, with a series of apartments in a block, with a common outside space where you can sunbathe, play games or take a drink from the outside bar. Our apartment was huge, and could easily have slept seven people. There was a feeling of space and comfort (double aspect windows), apart from the bathroom which was pokey and not really adequate for the five of us living there. Not sure if this was intended to be self-catering, but there was not enough kitchen equipment for this to be possible. The buffet breakfast was excellent and contained a wide variety of foods, different each day. Buffet dinner also looked good, but, at £30 UK, was, in my opinion, overpriced. Big indoor pool gave relief after a walk in the crater or a long bus ride. Staff were magnificent - friendly and helpful. A number of things did not quite work and needed fixing eg swimming pool tiles, light switches. However, all-in-all, a good place to stay at a reasonable price.

We were not impressed with the accommodation here. We stayed in the family suite. The main bedroom in the family suite was tiny. We couldn’t use the cupboard at the same time as walking around the bed. The cupboard was also wobbly and the desk doors were broken, the bathroom was even tinier with nowhere to put our stuff. The mirror was to chest height only. There was nowhere at all to put wet clothes. No pegs for jackets. A set of 4 little hooks in the bathroom to hang towels and that’s it. The bathroom cabinet was broken and screwed shut. The toilet was tiny too. There was only one socket next to the bed for the light, so if you wanted to charge your phone, you couldn’t use the bedside light. Every time we wanted to use the pool (during their advertised hours) it was closed. A different excuse each time. The rooms were clean at least.

This hotel is within easy walking distance of the crater viewpoints. It has an unusual design, with separate entrances for each hallway. There are a lot of stairs, but I requested a ground floor room and it was no problem. The dining room serves generous amounts of delicious food. The staff is very warm and helpful, especially Ruth, who took extra care to help us. We enjoyed our stay!

I am from the UK. Travelled solo. Here in April 2023 for two nights as part of a three week trip to Israel. Mix of budget, mid range and top end accommodation, with a rental car in between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I had this down as mid range when booking. When I booked this, based on previous reviews and researching it etc, I was expecting fairly budget rooms and swimming pool, but a bar and restaurant I could chill out in at night. It turned out I sort of got this the wrong way round. After looking at Street View at home, on arrival outside was as expected. Looks more like a housing block than hotel. This part of Mitzpe Ramon also a little rough around the edges. Lobby OK. However, once checked in, very pleasantly surprised. Rooms are in apartment blocks, marble type staircases and lifts. The rooms themselves are nothing short of five star. At least the one I got was. I may have booked a grade above standard can't remember. Big room, big seperate En Suite with shower and separate jacuzzi bath, toiletries bath robes flat screen, everything. Plus the pool is outdoors but in a glass building with a nice grassy area around it. So far looking like a steal at this price. That's the plus. Now onto the not so plus. The second night I was there was Shabbat eve. I had planned to eat out one night and stay in the other. Not and endless choice of places close by in ot Ramon anyway. So thought I would eat in the Friday. Just checked at reception to make sure bar and restaurant were open. Which was the point they told me they don't have a bar. Gulp. OK but I can get a beer from the restaurant? Not really. Was shown the soft drinks fridge in the lobby, where, along with all the coke and water and so, nestled two (different) bottles of beer. In terms of eating, all the restaurant did was a buffet (every day not just Shabbat). I was advised to go out. Which I did! And had a nice meal and beers at HaHavit. The second night however, after hiking Avdat National Park in the morning and doing an Adam Sela private jeep tour of the crater (I was told off for calling it the 'Crater' because it's not one), I was too tired to walk 15 minutes around the deserted streets of Mitzpe Ramon to wherever was open. So insisted on staying in. In summary, the same two beers were still in the drinks fridge, but they aren't now because I drank them, out on the terrace, I couldn't order a glass of wine because you can only order a bottle, and white which I wanted was only available in (unchilled) full bottles, not halfs. This was fixed by giving it to me in a plastic bag full of ice. I had the buffet, which was average. I did ask whether the strange sort of lack of drinks service was for religious reasons, but seemingly not. However clearly not a huge call for it. This was perhaps borne out by the other guests while I stayed there. The first day was dominated by a school group of Israeli teens, the second by Israeli seniors who, after dinner, gave 30 minutes singing in t