We stayed here for 10 days while our 10-year-old son was unexpectedly hospitalized while were on vacation in Israel. It was our 2nd day in Israel and he had a ruptured bowel (from Meckel's diverticulum) and required emergency surgery. How awful is that?
The fine people at the Ein Kerem Hotel welcomed us very gently and with comfort. They really looked us in the eye with concern for our family--everyday. They were sold out for the Passover holiday when many families actually stay at the hotel for the whole holiday. They had a room for us on the 4th floor...the post-maternity spa! We paid the posted rate of $182 US per night for 3 of us which included a big Israeli breakfast.
The rooms are modern with upscale furnishings, flat screen TV's, nice showers, mini fridge, safe, good closet, and a changing table!
The hotel entrance is at the mall level and since it's built on the steep hillside, you go down to the rooms. There's a lovely courtyard, elegant sitting area, and stunning dining room which overlooks the pretty countryside.
The breakfasts were a cut above, even on Passover (they go Kosher for Passover) with many salads, warm dishes, fruit, juices, baking, yogurts, etc. The atmosphere was friendly and we met people who were staying at the hotel as long-stay hospital outpatients for cancer treatment etc. Two were from as far away a Cypress.
We took turns staying with our son and taking walks around the area. Right at the hotel is a modern mall with chains stores (Fox, Aroma, mini Supersal...) and a food court. It's wonderful that there are so many amenities right there.
Everyday we went for a walk on our own and never felt nervous about being alone. It's a fabulous 15 minute hike to the delightful village of Ein Kerem. You pick up the trail in the lowest doctor's residence parking lot. We had the best gelati ever in Ein Kerem at a place called Tresor (I think?). You can also visit the many Christian religious sites like Mary's fountain, the Notre Dame de Sion convent, a Gregorian church and St. John the Baptist's church. There are many artists studios on the pretty side streets. This is a must.
Many of the cross-Israel hiking trails converge below the Hospital. You have the Israel Trail, the Hadassah Trail and the Jerusalem Trail and we did the whole circumnavigation of Hadassah going on all these trails. You can get a map (in Hebrew) at the hotel front desk. These are fabulous trails, well-marked that will take you through the beautiful countryside past ancient lookout forts and by farms that look like Tuscan paintings.
There are some interesting places to stay in Ein Kerem itself, like an old convent and Notre Dame, but if you need to be by the hospital, the Ein Kerem hotel isn't a fallback position--it's ideal. It's a one minute walk to the main entrance of the hospital.
Back to the hotel: it was super clean and everything worked and was excellent value. I wish we could have done the 10-day hiking trip we had planned but if you need to be at Hadassah or want an upscale way to see Ein Kerem, this is it.
They said the lobby had wifi but I'm not sure it was working when we tried. The hospital has wifi throughout and we made good use of it.
By the way, our son made an excellent recovery with no complications. The care he (and we) received at Hadassah hospital was beyond outstanding. We were in an open pediatric critical care unit with a dozen families of all backgrounds from Hassidic Jews to Arabs, to modern Russian and Jewish Israelis. Everyone congratulated each other's small achievements in a warm and loving way. As one of the doctors said to us: this isn't the trip you planned but you will see the "real Israel". Indeed. Thank you all.