Waldorf Astoria: Enjoying a spa day in Jerusalem - review

Israel is a small country and all of us have been affected by the events of October 7 and the ensuing war. I know I have felt tense since the war began, and having two sons fighting (one in Gaza and one on the Lebanese border) hasn’t helped.

Thankfully, both sons were recently released from reserve duty, and when I was invited to check out the Waldorf Astoria’s fancy spa and enjoy afternoon tea as part of the hotel’s 10th anniversary celebrations, I convinced my favorite daughter, Rafaella, to leave work early and we made an afternoon of it.

Taking a spa day

First I visited the Guerlain spa. This is simply a magical place. First of all, it smells amazing, and there are colorful bottles of products that you can try out and buy if you wish. The waiting room before the massage is equipped with comfy couches and two kinds of water (still and sparkling), fancy tea in which each tea bag comes in a little box, apples, and cookies.

As I filled out the medical form, half a dozen men and women, wearing white terry cloth robes and slippers, emerged from the treatment rooms looking blissed-out. Soon it was my turn.

“Linda?” a young woman with her red hair wrapped in a scarf, called.

Aliza, my massage therapist, is Australian, which made communicating easy. She showed me the treatment room, the closet for my clothes, and left. And here I had my first great surprise of the day. The massage bed was heated! Even before the massage started I felt myself relax.

Aliza then gave me an excellent massage. I’ve had dozens of massages in my many decades of life, and this was one of the best. Called an Imperial Massage, it aims to “awaken your senses, speed up your circulation, and help achieve total relaxation.”

My only problem was I was so relaxed that I almost fell asleep, and I didn’t want to waste this massage while sleeping!

While I had my massage, my favorite daughter was enjoying the spa’s indoor pool, and afterward I joined her. It was long enough that it didn’t feel crowded at all and was heated to a pleasant temperature. I also checked out the sauna and the hammam, which was too hot for me to stay in for more than two minutes.

Soon it was time for afternoon tea at the King’s Court restaurant in the lobby. Here’s my advice. Don’t even think about calories. There are a lot of them, and they are totally worth it. The afternoon tea is really a light meal with a beautiful three-story tower brought to the table. There are several kinds of sandwiches, including the iconic cucumber sandwiches with dill cream cheese on whole wheat bread, sandwiches with Tom cheese and tomato chutney, and a savory smoked salmon and egg salad tart. We devoured all of them.

There were two types of scones, plain and with raisins, and they were served with cream and two types of jam, cherry and strawberry. By now Rafaella and I were almost in a food coma.

But wait! The best is yet to come. Lots of bite-size desserts that were both visually arresting and delicious (and had quite a few of those calories that I wrote about earlier). They were both beautiful and delicious, including a mini-Rocher, which had chocolate crunch, praline mousse and was covered with chocolate, a tiny lemon-flavored madeleine, and my favorite – a bite-size chocolate éclair.

Oh yes, there was also tea. I chose the Indian chai, and Rafaella the Darjeeling. It came in a lovely pot with a tea strainer, as my British friends say it should.

The special price for a massage for two and afternoon tea for two is NIS 1,240. The tea alone is NIS 380 for two.

Note: The massage can be booked all day and includes use of the spa facilities.

Tea is served Sunday-Thursday, 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. and must be booked 24 hours in advance.

• The Waldorf Astoria Hotel
• 26 Gershon Agron, Jerusalem
• Tel: (02) 542-3333
• Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbinate

The writer was a guest of the hotel.