May 2023
March 2020
House Croatia resort which has been operating successfully in the coastal town of Trogir since 2016. Leon Avigad, founder and co-owner of the Brown Hotels Group: “We are proud of the dedicated team of Brown Hotels in Israel and Europe, operating in 5 countries and dozens of sites, promoting the training of the service teams and preparing the hotels in detail for the upcoming tourist season. The Brown Hotels Collection will end the year 2023 with 54 hotels, of which 27 are in Israel, 20 in Greece and Cyprus and 7 in Croatia, and a total of about 4,000 rooms. By the end of 2025, the company is expected to have grown to a total of 74 hotels, including about 8,000 rooms. Our teams will continue to implement our strong experiential hospitality, alongside our signature style, and all aspects which make a Brown Hotel unique within the soon-to-launch hotels.” Nissenbaum said he doesn’t believe Israel’s efforts to create a star graded system for Israel’s hotels will work. “The only thing people look at today is what the travel agents and social media are saying.” “We have enough Anglo-Saxon tourists, we need to spend money on really good people who are out there, talking about Israel. There are a lot of people who are scared to come.” “My worry is that someone who is not as connected to the prime minister will enter the office and they won’t be given the budget and it will be worse than it is now,” he said. “Ninety percent of the focus is right. I wish Levin would stay.” Every hotel in Israel must somehow set itself apart from the others. According to Nissenbaum, “each hotel has its niche and each tries to expand beyond that niche. Everyone thinks they are the best; that is not always true. We do have that reputation out there. We are the market leader in Jerusalem, Eilat and Haifa and we are considered the luxury player.” “In our hotels, you will experience local Israeli flavor at the highest level,” he said. “For Israel, this is the best service that you are going to get.”
the reality show “Israel’s Next Restaurant” on Reshet 13 Network. The trendy restaurant serves a menu inspired by the building’s location between the Carmel Market and the Mediterranean sea, accompanied by a cocktail bar and Israeli housekeeping. Being in the service industry in Israel, getting good staff to wait, to cook, to clean, to staff reception, is not easy. The pressure on the hotels is to constantly increase wages. It is not only the salary alone, but also the costs around that. We have five thousand employees. We have five thousand families relying on us. That is a lot of weight on our shoulders. I worry about that. I worry about the manpower. I worry about development because we are at the height of craziness now. It is a seller’s market and people are asking ridiculous prices.” wines, and in the mornings it serves the hotel guests, who can enjoy a rich and generous breakfast (dairy/fish. Not Kosher) buffet style and mouthwatering pastries from the hot taboon oven. The group continues to expand and establish new hotels throughout the Hotels in Israel must also deal with a multitude of regulations set forth by the government and this can often become a major headache. While the government has been working to some extent to minimize red tape, there is still a long way to go. “Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin has been very good for the business,” Nissenbaum said. “I think he made some really wise decisions with Israel’s resources and marketed Israel in the right way. Can more be done? Absolutely. The PR we have outside is not where it needs to be.” Mediterranean region. In addition to the two resorts that have recently launched in Eilat – the Brown Eilat Boutique Hotel and the Brown Lighthouse Eilat, a third, Brown Red Sea, will be opening in April, where extensive renovation works and a modern desert-inspired redesign are currently being completed. Additionally, three new hotels will open in Tel Aviv this year: The first, a 144-room
hotel in the Workers Council building on Brenner Street designed by Arch. Dana Oberzon; the second, a luxurious and elegant 54-room boutique hotel designed by Ruby Israeli on Montefiore Street; and the third, an 80-room hotel on Gruzenberg Street, an additional and spectacular wing to the iconic first group hotel – Brown TLV on Kalisher Street. In addition, Brown Hotels is deepening its ties to the Greek market, adding to the 11 existing hotels and resorts active in the capital Athens, along the coastline and on the islands of Evia, Corfu and Crete, another 9 properties, which will open by the end of 2023. The group also marks another new and intriguing destination for Israelis – the port city of Rijeka, the third largest city in Croatia, where the group has recently completed the purchase of seven properties – six hotels and a campsite. These are in addition to the Brown Beach
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