Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim
In Rosh Pina, (+) 972-4-6994555. 99 rooms. No children under 10. Indoor pool; outdoor & indoor hot tub; fitness room; dry & wet sauna; health spa; 1 tennis court.
-watermark.JPG "breakfast buffet at Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim in Eastern Galilee, Israel") |
| breakfast buffet at Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim in Eastern Galilee, Israel |
In the Upper Galilee at the foot of Mount Canaan, near the artist village Rosh Pina and the Kabbalah city of Sefad (and rumored to have hosted celebrity Madonna), the romantic Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim resort/health retreat is spread over 37 acres. It opened in 1968, when this property was mostly barren, hot, and dry desert, but is now lush, like an oasis, and features fragrant gardens, walking paths, and ponds. It is well-known for its organic fruit and vegetable gardens as well as an organic dairy farm with herds of sheep, goats, cows, and chickens. Because the soil is considered sacred, no one poisons it with pesticides. Rock mounds in the vegetable garden attract and protect insect eaters. The 30-acre organic farm grows 100 different vegetables and 70 kinds of fruit, and in spring there is an amazing bloom of wild flowers. The owner works twice a day in the fields just because he enjoys doing so.
Each guest room here has a unique decor, heavy on English style. Mine had a large bathroom with vintage white marble floors, a pull-chain toilet and pedestal sink, and an oversize whirlpool tub with separate glass-walled shower. Furniture included a desk and armoire, and the bed faced an upper wall of windows that looked out into trees and over a duck-pond below. Guest rooms are spread between the main building and four other stone buildings. Oriental rugs and charm reign throughout, and a central atrium holds a 7-story-tall Washington palm tree that hugs the ceiling (it is NOT dead). One person I chatted with said, “I come for the silence.”
Each guest room here has a unique decor, heavy on English style. Mine had a large bathroom with vintage white marble floors, a pull-chain toilet and pedestal sink, and an oversize whirlpool tub with separate glass-walled shower. Furniture included a desk and armoire, and the bed faced an upper wall of windows that looked out into trees and over a duck-pond below. Guest rooms are spread between the main building and four other stone buildings. Oriental rugs and charm reign throughout, and a central atrium holds a 7-story-tall Washington palm tree that hugs the ceiling (it is NOT dead). One person I chatted with said, “I come for the silence.”
The freezer-less Vegetarian Restaurant serves everything fresh, including fish from the Sea of Galilee, while Muscat Restaurant offers refined dining and menu items such as beetroot ravioli filled with goat cheese and hazel nut oil, and organic duck with pomegranate-caramel sauce with five passion spices and organic vegetables. The morning breakfast buffet is beautiful, bountiful, and an organic delight. A daily activity program includes classes and tours—perhaps bread making and a healing workshop or a guided tour of the farm. In addition to hundreds of cows, the hotel has 200 goats and 100 sheep. View my video of the baby goats:
The hotel has been leading the trend of ecotourism and sustainability here for almost 40 years. A house bakery makes everything fresh daily, and the dairy provides all the organic dairy foods and some meats.
More vegan-vegetarian places.
More things to do in Galilee area of Israel.
More ideas for exploring the Middle East.
image and videos c2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
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