Carmel Forest Spa Resort

I'm rating the experience itself and not the price/vfm, since I think most people that come here don't pay full price out of pocket. The rooms are great, refurbished, comfortable bed, very good shower etc. The food in the hotel was also very good. However there are a few things that can be improved. The service can be better on several different fronts, such as by being more helpful to arriving guests or taking your belongings to your room. In addition the facilities can also be improved - e.g. 1 small hot tub for a large hotel, meaning you have to pretty much stand in line to get in. All in all, good experience on several fronts, but can also be better, especially given the "luxury hotel" status/branding.

We had a great stay at the Carmel Forest Resort. The indoor spa and pool area was excellent — the heated pool, hammam, and sauna were all in excellent condition, and there were always plenty of warm, pampering towels available. The outdoor pool is larger and beautiful, surrounded by lovely, spacious grounds — even though it's not heated, it’s a great spot to relax and swim in nice weather, we had fantastic weather end of October. Dinner was a real treat. Starters and more were available buffet-style, while main courses and desserts were ordered from a menu — everything we had was delicious. A special thanks to our waiter, Malinda, who was kind, professional, and made us feel very welcome. Breakfast was also great, with a similar setup — buffet for some items, and fresh main dishes and drinks made to order. The option to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and gorgeous view made it even better. The room on the 6th floor had a beautiful view. It wasn’t very large or super modern, but it was clean and comfortable. There was one unfortunate issue — during dinner, a couple seated outside near us was speaking loudly on their phones. Since one of the hotel’s unique and appreciated features is its no-cell-phone-in-public-areas policy, this disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. The situation was handled only after another guest complained to the maître d’. It would be great if staff could be a bit more proactive in such cases. The chillout bar by the outdoor pool is superb. Variety, reasonable prices, excellent service and tasty. Other than that, everything was truly fantastic. Highly recommended for a relaxing, pampering getaway.

Made a reservation but after reading that rooms are tired and need upgrades, tried to cancel it. Not so fast: to cancel it online, somehow two step authentication is needed and my North American phone number was not receiving the texts. I then emailed at least 11 times to all the addresses I could find online with zero response. I then had to ask a friend in Israel to call and cancel it for me and was charged 300 shekels cancellation fee which is quite outrageous and not as per website policy (which is printed somewhere in a small print when you are making a reservation in a garbled language in a long paragraph which is not at all easy to understand or follow). Be aware!

Such a beautiful stay, it’s one of my favorite hotels now! I loved the landscape, the quiet and the pool The staff was super friendly and welcoming! I would definitely come back

A place to go specifically because it is a spa resort, but when they forget to tell you that if you've had an operation, you can't have a massage, and you are there without the possibility of having one, then you just throw your money away! We left with a very bad taste.