Raphael Apartments

Pros: great location near the beach co-located with a nice Hotel Daniel (but you don't get all the perks of the hotel) Host is responds very quickly on WhatsApp Cons: No WiFi - contrary to what listing says No Free parking - the listing is deceiving, the parking we were directed to by the host is a public parking which is always 100% full due to the popular location. Paid parking across the street is expensive Apartment is somewhat worn down - spots with peeling paint, dirty windows. One of the windows leaks during the rain There is no separate room, all you get is a curtain splitting the apartment in two. We saw a roach once. Overall, I would advise against renting this, the rooms at the Hotel are not that more expensive.

1. Location - excellent!!!! There's really nothing to say but AMAZING. 2. Parking - very limited. most of the time you have to use city parking which is very (!!) expensive (~96 NIS per day). 3. Internet- not working. We were told the internet should work when we "carry it over from the lobby" but it disconnected in the elevator. Reach out to the owner, he might be able to provide you with an alternate connection. 4. Pool - Really nice. Limited to 4 people. 5. Maintenance - The main areas were clean but some (not really needed) closets were in "maintenance" shape. will probably improve once the Covid manpower shortage will ease up. 6. Shower - BYO body soap (there was hand soap), shampoo, and conditioner. 7. Washing machine - I would not count on it. Not sure if it works (we didn't need it) but even if it does, it was covered in clutter and did not invite use. Also, no dryer/place to hang laundry. 8. Air conditioner- yes, it works!!!. Automatically shuts off every hour but did the job on very hot days 😀. (ask the owner if you wish to change this option, we didn't and it was a shame cause it was really easy). A nice addition was the fan that made it possible to sleep without air conditioning (for those like us who don't like sleeping with air conditioning). 9. Service and responsiveness of the owner - GREAT. reach out if you have any problems, they might be solvable much quicker.

The property is in derelict condition. The bathroom and shower are moldy. The paint in the main room is peeling everywhere, especially near the windows. The A/C fan grills are filthy and dusty. The floor was not clean. The A/C did not work for 2 days upon our arrival. Moreover, it is likely that the owner (Doron Cochavi) was aware of it, since there was a mobile fan placed and turned on inside the unit upon our arrival, probably in order to try to mitigate the heavy heat. Yet, the owner did not notify us about it, and as a result we could not sleep for the first 2 nights. The washing machine did not work for our entire stay. In reply to our complains, Mr. Cochavi offered us to leave the property, claiming that the rate he charged, $260/night, was reflecting the poor condition of the unit. This is not true. Other units in the same hotel, which were fully renovated, were rented for similar rates. E.g. the units of "Lena" or "Nitza". Mr Cochavi was not taking into account that such offer was not feasible for us, as accommodation of such sort during this time of the year needed to be booked well in advance. In fact all other similar units were already rented out. One additional bizarre issue was that the bathroom's A/C suction was blocked with toilet papers. The reason begin that in an adjacent unit there are smokers, and the heavy smell penetrates thru the building's central A/C ducts. At the bottom line, Mr. Cochavi is a bad host, to be avoided if possible.

The host was very helpful and very responsive to messages. The apartment had an amazing view over the beach and we also had access to the pool. The apartment could have been cleaner - inside drawers were dirty including the crockery and towels were stained and dirty. The shower was also quite mouldy with a smelly drain.

Great stay in a great place. The host was communicative and accommodating. Perfect for 5. Will book again for sure.