Hilton Eilat Queen of Sheba Hotel

It is a good 4-star-hotel (not 5 as they claim to be). The interior is nice but a bit shabby. The worst part was nights in our sea-view room. We had the view not only on to the sea but also the disco bar with thumping music till 5am. And we were there with our 2-year-old kid. We had to call the reception several times at about 3am but were told that the disco was outside of the hotel and there was nothing they could do about it. The music was so loud that I was not sure at all that not-sea-view room could work out. On the bright side was food that was delicious and overall friendly atmosphere and service. Without the night noise I would rate my overall experience as 'above average'.

I stayed at this hotel with family from Nov 23 - 25th. From the outside this is a grand hotel. Inside it is worn out. The lobby carpet is worn and tattered, the bathroom tile grout was black with mold, the pool area was tinged with old gum, the lounge chairs were faded and worn out. The restaurant Buffalo Steak House was barren. The other food inside options were buffet, with no waitstaff to be found (except the people who check your room number to charge you). The poolside restaurant served undercooked chicken! When confronted the chief indicated that he was aware of the problem. No action was taken! When trying to speak to the manager, I was directed to public relations. The holiday weekend was not spoiled because I was with family! But with so many other hotels...this one should be avoided.

I just returned from a 2 night stay. On check in we were told by Barbara at the front desk that we would get a 15% reduction at the Buffalo steak restaurant in the hotel. On check out nobody knew what we were talking about., after a discussion they finally reluntantly gave us the 15%. I had the lamb it was cooked to perfection, the filet steak was not great. Prices high. Breakfast and evening buffet were quite good. We felt we were very lucky to be upgraded to a sea view suite until it came time to go to bed. The noise from the beach was terrible thumping music until 5 a.m. Not a good place if you want a rest. The executive lounge had a poor selection of food, which was the same all day and every day. The Dah Eilat is a better choice.

My husband and I have just returned from an 8 day holiday to Eilat staying at the Queen of Sheba - and to be honest, we couldn't have asked for anymore. After a delayed 5hr flight, we arrived at the hotel, midnight, very tired. However, the cool, calm white hotel foyer that greeted us on arrival was worth the long wait. What added to it was when the duty manager informed us that we had been up-graded to an Executive Suite on the 12th floor and we were to have breakfast in the Executive Dining Room. Taking breakfast each morning on the 12th floor, over-looking a lovely view of Eilat, with very tentative staff, was just an added pleasure to our stay. Our towels were changed twice a day and every night when we returned to the room, there was fresh towels for the morning on our pillows with chocolates. We ate one night in the hotel, we there was a wide-variety of food served - all buffet style and beautifully presented. The pool area was very busy with Israeli families at the weekend but the remainder of the time, there was more than adequate space to sit out, sunbathe in the basking heat or swim. The pool side staff were also very attentive as I fell ill on the first day and they even came to our room later in the day to check that I was OK, and also left a message on our phone in the evening to see if I was feeling better. The Queen of a Sheba was in a nice location. Our only complaint, was that there was no street access afforded to Hotel Guests as there appeared to be with the Dan, Herod etc with their key-cards. On our next visit to Eilat, there is no doubt that we will stay at the Queen of Sheba. It beats hand down all the glory and kitch of the Herod's Palace. It unusual shape certainly stands out on the landscape of Eilat - especially when traveling back to Ovda Airport.

The Hilton Queen of Sheba is a lovely hotel. My wife and I stayed for 7 nights in March 2006. As has been stated in previous reviews, the building is impressive with a very light, airy, calm and contemporary feel in its reception and lobby, which is not mirrored in either the Dan or the Royal Beach which now appear slightly dated. The glass elevators which whisk you up to your floor, whilst affording you a view over Eilat town are also a well thought architectural touch. That said, the calm relaxed feeling around the hotel is eroded on the weekend when Israelis seem to check-in en masse, however, I'm sure this is the case in other hotels in town. The staff were exceptionally friendly and guest services were very quick to respond to our requests for extra housekeeping items. Rooms The design of the hotel means that only alternate floors (which I believe are the smoking floors) have balconies and even then, these balconies are very small with no furniture. We were not aware of this at the time of booking and so had no balcony. No/small balconies means that the rooms have less glass and therefore less natural light. We were in a sea facing room and whilst it is not the hotel's fault, the double glazing did little to keep out the sound of the very loud local disco, which continued until early in the morning. Dining Breakfast consisted of a vast varied buffet, which remained fully stocked by attentive kitchen staff. The only criticism of the breakfast experience is that if you arrive after 9am, the dining room is rather chaotic, especially on weekends. In contrast, when we ate dinner at the Yakimono Japanese Restaurant on the 12th floor it was a relative oasis of calm. We sat on the terrace and from twelve floors up we were afforded a great view over Eilat. The menu was varied and the food lovely. Pool Apart from the weekend, the pool was never too busy, however it was annoying that both the pool and the pool area closed at 5pm, when you were effectively kicked out by pleasant staff. This was our first visit to Eilat and the trip exceeded our expectations. If you are looking for a family friendly, relaxing break in the sun without a "Brits abroad" feeling, then we would recommend both the resort of Eilat and this hotel. We will definitely return, hopefully next year!

When you arrive from the airport, one building will attract immediatly your eyes: the Hilton Queen of Sheba. And, if you arrive in the evening, no doubt you will be more impress ! I feel like arriving to Las Vegas ! I have booked a room without the sea view. I'm a Hilton Honors GOLD and, at the check-in, without asking, they told me immediatly that I will be upgrated to the sea view at the Executive floor. Instead this room, they can also offer me an appartment, but not at the Executive floor. Travelling for one week with my daughter 17 years old, I have enjoyed staying in this appartement with 2 bedrooms, one living room and one kitchenette, and 2 TV. All the appartment was completly renovated, offering so much space and a nice decor. The breakfast (included for every guest) is one of the best I had in all the Hilton I was till now. You can also enjoy the terrasse, facing the swimming pool for the breakfast, what we did every morning. For the lunch, we have used every day the Executive lounge, offering drinks and quite a good choice of assorted vegetables, cheese, fruits and cakes. There is a free access to a computer with a printer, which was helpfull, especially for my daughter contacting her friends, with no charge for me! Concerning the dinner, we decided to go out, the restaurants at the Hilton are very expensive to compare to the restaurants outside and we really loved to go to Denny's kingdom (all the taxi drivers know the address), a very popular fish restaurant. Not expensive at all, very good and simple service, and prices are more than reasonnable. Don't expect a large choice, they only have what the fishermen are catching for them.. As already written in another review, I confirm that the swimming pool is really fantastic, with plenty of lounge chairs. In the evening, the room service is coming to change all your towels and to offer you the classic chocolate on the pillow. I hardly recommand this hotel for the service and for the very central location.

My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 4 days. We had a great time and highly recommended. The decor of the hotel is beautiful, with glass elevators, and being able to see from your room floor all the way to the lobby. Since we are Gold Hilton members, we received a junior suite- very large, comfortable suite, with separate living room, bedroom and kitchenette. The rooms were clean and they clean the rooms twice a day with a fold down service at night, with chocolate on your pillows. With the gold card, you also receive VIP breakfast which is on the top floor. You can sit out on the balcony and enjoy your breakfast with your choice of any eggs you desire. You also get free access to the Executive lounge, unlimited drinks, cakes, internet, newspapers, tv etc. The pool is very large and spacious. There were plenty of lounge chairs around, and even when they said the hotel was at full capacity, there was plenty of lounge chairs. They also have an activity program, and night entertainment where you can win prizes. Food was very good, and lots of variety. The breakfast was the best. We did not have dinner there. But ate in the lounge, cocktails and cake were excellent. The spa in the hotel was also very relaxing. All in all I would recommend this hotel, and would return.

My wife and I stayed in this hotel for 3 days. The hotel itself is beutiful and located in a very central location. The staff is efficient and courtious. The rooms themselves are standard and maintainance could have been better. On arrival, both towles we got had stains on them but were quickely replaced after calling the lobby. We were on half board there. The breakfast was excellent but dinner was pretty horrible. While there was a lot od selection for dinner, nothing tasted well. On our second night we went out for dinner instead of eating at the hotel. Over all, this is a good hotel, but not an excellent one.

My wife and I spent 3 nights in this hotel on the last week of January 2005. We had high expectations and I should be honest and say that the hotel itself is very nice, clean and the rooms are more than enough. But (and this is a big but...) some of us expect a tad more, especialy in the service department. When we arrived it was a very hot week in the middle of winter and the hotels' AC was set on heating. We were practicaly steaming in our room and couldn't sleep. When we called the guest service desk we were told that the AC system is very "advanced and sofisticated" and nothing can be done untill tommorow... What this meant was that I was left to "deal with it" and that's that. I eventualy insisted on some solution and at arround 2 AM we got a ventilator delivered to our room - if only it would have arrived a few hours earlier when we first called. Aside from this the hotel was very good, the food was excellent but dare I mention that we stayed at the Dan Eilat on June 2004 and it was much much better.

We are frequent travellers both for business and pleasure and therefore no strangers to staying at international class hotels. During our 14 day stay, the first thing that impressed us was the warmth of the welcome and the friendliness at reception - not something we come across regularly. The bedrooms however are slightly disappointing - though we had full suites with separate sitting rooms and bedrooms, the decor fell slightly short of big city Hilton hotels that we've stayed at in other parts of the world. There was no balcony but we were pleased to have a full sea view. The Executive Lounge that we were entitled to use however measures up with the best with friendly "can do" service as well as complimentary refreshments (including alcohol) and snacks and free internet access. The restaurants are ok - our favourite was the mass catering Makeda but the Japanese and Steak House also served reasonable meals. Service ranged from amateurish to excellent depending on the server but we got on well with most of them. Breakfast for executive guests is served in the Japanese Restaurant on the top floor of the hotel with its stunning seaviews for those sitting on the terrace which was where we headed every morning. The food is also of a better quality with better service than that for the masses - by which we literally mean a cast of thousands - at breakfast at the Makeda where we wandered in by mistake on our first morning. The swimming pool area is also of a good standard though loungers were in short supply on certain days. We were impressed with the animation team who did their best to keep guests entertained though we were disadvantaged through not being Hebrew speakers - probably just as well judging by some of the antics they got up to. There is a gym, a shop, hairdressers and pay internet facilities in the basement for those who need to be relieved of a few shekels. The hotel is situated on the seafront close to a market and shopping for those need more intensive retail therapy. Many other restaurants are within a stone's throw like the Gulf are good value and good quality. A bit more luxury in the bedrooms is all that it will take to bump our rating to excellent.