Leaving Paris – Tel-Aviv “confidential” at the Elkonin


Driven by a singular history, this new boutique-hotel celebrates the art of living and sharing, like a beautiful family home.





Delphine Cadilhac

The first hotel in Tel Aviv in 1913, the Elkonin came back to life under the impetus of Dominique Romano, a Franco-Israeli businessman who wanted to honor its history and its founders.
© Sivan Askayo

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VSIt was Tel Aviv’s first hotel in 1913, founded by Malka and Menachem Elkonin in Neve Tzedek, then the first neighborhood of a city that had begun construction four years earlier. Abandoned, it came back to life under the impetus of Dominique Romano, a Franco-Israeli businessman who wanted to honor its history and its founders by inaugurating the Elkonin MGallery – (MGallery is a boutique collection- hotels of the Accor group with around a hundred addresses around the world) – in February 2023, after a meticulous restoration orchestrated by the architect Gidi Bar Orian and Adriana Schor, artistic director and Parisian interior designer. The latter has imagined “an authentic and welcoming house where you like to meet, with an elegant and sober decoration that endures beyond fashions”.

Cement tile floors, brass and cane decor, bistro chairs and table, works of art and attention to detail celebrate the French way of life, echoing L’Époque, the Robuchon International group’s first table in Israel. The recipes of executive chef David Alvès, a close collaborator of Joël Robuchon for twenty years, are interpreted by Eugène Koval around a convivial seasonal and locavore cuisine, a subtle marriage of French gastronomy and the spicy flavors of the Mediterranean. The breakfast, entirely homemade, is worth the stay on its own with its salty and sweet dishes flavored with remarkable accuracy.

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Forty-two rooms and two suites – with names in homage to the founding couple of the place –, in a harmony of bright light shades, share the historic building and the glass tower with which it has been provided, like an architectural dialogue between past and modernity. Hotspot of 7e floor, the rooftop with swimming pool promises to be the ideal place to enjoy a cocktail facing the sunset over the sea, in this lively district popular for its restaurants, bars and concept stores.

Driven by a desire to share and transmit, the hotel has found in Clarins a partner beauty house in its image. “We wanted a French brand for our spa. The family history and the similarity of Clarins’ values ​​with ours were then obvious,” says Adriana Schor. Founded in 1954 by Jacques Courtin-Clarins, the brand, which has built its success on its sharp and virtuous care with powerful plant extracts, remains a family adventure led by the Courtin descendants.

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With this first spa in Israel (out of 41 in the world), Clarins is once again exporting its art of professional and personalized touch, a unique know-how: all its treatments are 100% manual and involve no less than 90 movements, to offer a synergy between a selection of products according to the needs of the moment and the skin. “The hand is the perfect machine, it follows the curves of the face and body, feels the tensions. The choice of a boutique hotel allows us to offer a much more personalized experience than in a huge hotel”, underlines Katalin Berenyi, general manager of the brand. In addition to the “classic” Clarins rituals – healthy glow facial treatment, expert facial treatment, balancing massage with essential oils, etc. –, the place offers the Signature Elkonin treatment, combining relaxing stretches and draining tonic maneuvers to refocus vital energy and re-oxygenate the body. and firm the face.

Elkonin Tel Aviv. From €480 per night, mgallery.accor.com
Spa by Clarins, €190 for the Signature Elkonin treatment, clarins.fr




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