Travel+Leisure Magazine Features Tel Aviv-Jaffa Among ‘Best 2018 Travel Destinations’

The city of Tel Aviv was listed for the first time among the travel magazine Travel + Leisure’s “50 best places to travel” in 2018. The high-end, New York-based magazine says it curates its list every year, looking at spots “at the forefront of the global conversation, whether for new hotels and museums or major international events.”

Tel Aviv, the magazine says, has already attracted “a lot of attention for its nightlife and creative culinary scene in recent years,” and focuses instead on a number of new hotels and attractions in Jaffa, the ancient port city that is part of the Tel Aviv Municipality with its own distinct feel.

SEE ALSO: A Look Inside Israel’s Booming Travel Tech Industry

Travel + Leisure notes the imminent opening of the Setai Tel Aviv, a new luxury hotel on the Jaffa coast set to open its doors in January, built on the site of a former Ottoman prison. This is the second Setai hotel in Israel, with the plush Setai Hotel Sea of Galilee launching in May this past year and the third worldwide, with the Setai Miami Beach already a top locale.

The view from the Setai Tel Aviv. Photo via Setai Tel Aviv website

The Setai Tel Aviv is located near Jaffa’s iconic Clock Tower in the heart of the area and features over 100 rooms and suites, an infinity pool and other amenities.

In announcing the opening of the new hotel, Setai General Manager Bruno H. de Schuyter said “the 13th-century structure that is the foundation of the new hotel is unlike any other, and we took meticulous care in preserving and infusing important historic elements into the transformation of the building.”

De Schuyter said guests will be greeted “by a unique atmosphere of ‘old meets new,’ while experiencing first-class amenities and services in what will be the most superior five-star hotel in Tel Aviv.”

Travel + Leisure also mentions the W Hotel and Residences in Tel Aviv “housed in a 19th-century former convent and pilgrims’ hospice” set to open in March next year. The over $50 million-project features 125 hotel rooms and 38 suites overlooking the Meditteranean Sea and is part of the global W brand with 54 hotels across the world.

The W Hotel Tel Aviv. Photo via W Hotel Tel Aviv website

The prestigious magazine, considered one of the top travel publications in the world, with 4.8 million readers according to its corporate media kit, says the two listed hotels are just a few among “a growing list of upscale hotels, restaurants, and boutiques to arrive among the winding streets of this former fishing village.”

“Jaffa’s once-shabby flea market is now populated by a number of high-end antique dealerships, which sit alongside trendy cafés and bars — many offering live music into the night,” Travel + Leisure writes.

Other destinations selected by the magazine include cities like Buenos Aires, Los Cabos and Marrakesh and countries such Uzbekistan, Egypt, Jordan, Ireland and Zambia.

Tel Aviv is often listed as a top travel destination in international publications.

Earlier this year, Condé Nast Traveler España, one of the leading travel magazines for the Spanish-speaking world, picked Tel Aviv as its best city for 2017.

Last year, Conde Nast Traveler voted both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among the 40 “best cities in the world,” in the magazine’s 2016 survey of destinations outside the US. Tel Aviv, which the magazine called “one of the world’s most vibrant, diverse cities” ranked 17th on the list due in part to having the world’s largest concentration of buildings in the Bauhaus Style — more than 4,000 of them comprise what is also called Tel Aviv’s “White City”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Jaffa Market. Photo by Josh Pepper on Unsplash

In 2015, National Geographic magazine named Tel Aviv one of world’s top ten oceanfront cities and the year before that, the respected international culinary magazine “Saveur” voted for the city as an ‘Outstanding Culinary Destination’ in the category of small international cities for 2014. That same year, it won the award for the ‘World’s Smartest City’ at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

SEE ALSO: Top Vacation Destination: Israel Is One Of Harper’s Bazaar “Best Places To Travel In 2017”

As a destination for the annual Pride Parade, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists from around the world, the city was chosen as the best gay travel destination in 2012, according to a survey by GayCities.com and American Airlines.

Featured Image: The Pool at The Setai, Tel Aviv. PRNewsfoto/The Setai, Tel Aviv