The old Palace Hotel
Photo: Ron Peled
Jerusalem to get Waldorf-Astoria hotel in 2010
New hotel, managed by Hilton chain, to include 220 rooms and suites, swimming pool and spa
The first Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotel will be introduced to Israel
in 2010, with the Waldorf-Astoria-Palace Hotel expected to open in Jerusalem. The execution of the agreement signed between the Hilton Hotels Corporation, which will manage the hotel, and IPC Jerusalem Ltd was announced Sunday.
According to estimates, some $100 million will be invested in the new hotel.
The hotel will be build on the impressive building of the former Palace Hotel, at the intersection of King David, Agron and Mamila Streets, just steps from the Old City.
Built in 1929, the Palace Hotel was used in the past as the office of the Industry and Trade Ministry.
In the new hotel, which will see the historic facade of intricate stone carvings and decorative arches fully restored, will include 220 rooms and suites, a swimming pool, a 500-square-meter (5,382-square-feet) spa and three restaurants, as well as extensive conference and meeting facilities.
In addition, approximately 30 Waldorf-Astoria Collection residential apartments are expected to be developed on the site.
The Waldorf-Astoria brand has so far been given to five properties, four of them in the United States (the most famous one is the hotel in New York City's Park Avenue) and one in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
IPC Jerusalem Ltd. was founded in 2005 to acquire the development rights to the former Palace Hotel and Customs Building, the site on which the complex is being constructed. It is owned by members of Canada's Reichmann family.
