Ruth Hotel in Safed provides welcome break from reality

The Ruth Safed Hotel is on top of a mountain, offering a welcome break from the heat of late August in Israel. Visiting a hotel is a little like peeling an onion – as you wander around, you discover more and more layers and more and more little corners that invite you to slow down and sit awhile.

From the street, the hotel doesn’t look like much. There is a parking lot behind the building, but we couldn’t figure out how to access it, so we found parking on the street. When we arrived, the manager, Pini Peled, was waiting outside for us.

“How long have you been the manager here?” I asked him.

“Three days,” he answered with a laugh. “No, five days,” he corrected himself.

After checking in, we went on a scavenger hunt for our room, which involved going up some stairs, down other stairs, and up even more stairs again. One caveat that is important to note – there are a lot of steps in this hotel (and in Safed in general).

While a few of the rooms are accessible, if you have mobility problems, you should inform the hotel in advance. I’m convinced that my trainer, Nurit, told them to put me in the room that needed the most steps to access the dining room or the lobby to make sure I wouldn’t gain too much weight during the weekend.

The hotel building is really beautiful. Originally, it was a khan, an inn, built by the Mamelukes in the 13th century. The hotel has kept the original architecture with signs telling you what used to be there, such as a well that was used for watering the animals.

More recently it was a Beit Havra’ah, a hotel for Israeli workers who were given government-paid vacations. Then it was Ruth Rimonim, and today it is Ruth Safed.

We stayed in Room 14, one of the garden rooms. Outside our door was a small sitting area surrounded by greenery that felt private. Early Friday morning I spent a lovely few minutes sitting there quietly sipping an espresso.

THERE WERE also quite a lot of activities on offer for guests. First, there is a very large pool that was quite refreshing, and on Thursday night there was a fascinating lecture by Yuna Leibzon from Israel’s Channel 12 about her time in the US. As a journalist I was surprised to learn that she must do all of her own filming.

While this lecture was only given on the weekend that I was there, every Friday there is a walking tour of Safed with a licensed tour guide. David, who told us he speaks seven languages, really loves his city, and it shows.

He included all of the kids who came along on a very hot day and even had us singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino.

Most of the crowd were “Religious Zionists” including MK Michal Waldiger, who came with at least some of her children and grandchildren. There were also several large family groups who all seemed to be enjoying the hotel.

There was also the opportunity to enjoy Safed and its many synagogues. On Friday night we went to a synagogue just down the road from the hotel that advertised a “Carlebach minyan,” which means a lot of singing.

The singing was beautiful, but the women’s section was not. It was small and had thick white sheets hung up around it so I couldn’t see into the synagogue at all. On Shabbat morning I opted to pray by myself in my little outdoor sitting area.

“I’ve never seen a woman do that before,” she said. “Kol Hakavod (good job).”

After dinner journalist Kobi Meidan gave an excellent lecture on Leonard Cohen, including film clips of his performances. It was very well received.

On Shabbat morning at noon, sommelière Anat Barak offered a guided wine tasting of new Israeli grape varieties at the Muza wine bar, which has a well-curated selection of Israeli wines from the Galilee and Golan, as well as fantastic cocktails.

I am something of a wine snob and have attended many wine tastings over the years, and this was one of the best. Anat has a passion for Israeli wines, especially new varieties like Marawi and Bittuni. If you’ve never heard of them, go visit the Muza wine bar.

Now that you know about the wine, what about the food? I often find hotel food a little disappointing. There is a lot of it, but it’s not often very inspiring. At the Ruth Safed I was pleasantly surprised. While breakfast is served every day, dinner is only served on Thursday and Friday nights.

Thursday night dinner was a four-course meal served partly as a buffet and partly to the table. There were several fresh salads, including a roasted purple cabbage that my husband raved about. Then a small soup tureen with an orange soup appeared.

I held myself back from eating too much, as I wanted to enjoy the main course. Then a small individual grill came to the table with kebab, merguez sausages, pargit in a delicious sauce, and a small entrecote steak. Servers came around offering more meat to anyone who wanted it.

I skipped dessert, as parve desserts are not usually worth the calories.

Friday night offered a hand-carved entrecote steak that was actually cooked the way it should be – medium rare – instead of the well-done that many Israelis prefer. Those who wanted it to be cooked more could find it on the ends of the steak.

On Friday night I even had dessert, pistachio macarons, that were definitely worth the calories.

We headed back to Jerusalem Saturday night feeling that we had found a new special place in northern Israel.

For more info and reservations, https://www.danhotels.com/NorthHotels/RuthSafedHotel