My favorite place to stay in Israel is Villa Tehilah, Rosh Pina in the Galilee region of Israel. A beautifully restored, 120-year old property originally belonging to the Rothschild family, it has a magical atmosphere of private beauty and peace. I’ve been there with family, with friends, and alone. Others here on Green Prophet have written about eco-tourism in Kfar Kalil, also in the Galilee. Next time I stay at Villa Tehilah, it would be fun to visit the wind farm reported here too. In the green springtime, friends and I sometimes hike through the nearby wadi all the way to Safed. I’ve also stayed in the Villa in the autumn, when there are few guests and I might have the hot tub, set in one of the gardens, all to myself at night.
There’s also an outdoor pool. You can float and look at distant Mt. Hermon.
The garden path wanders past cafe-style tables standing here and there and down past resting places where hammocks swing invitingly.
Another attraction to keep visitors inside the magic circle is a pub, open on Shabbat. I’ve only visited on weekdays, but it looks like good times are had there and there’s no lack of beer.
The rooms are comfortable and lovely, each with unique decorations and individual features. Some are grouped around the patio, and some are perched upstairs and have little balconies. All have kitchenettes.
In the off-season, the management kindly allows friends to visit in the evening. We gather at a big wooden table under the pergola. There we’ve sat till the moon goes down, talking and drinking wine.
There is no kashrut (kosher) supervision for those who keep Jewish dietary laws, but all breakfast ingredients are kosher and the cook keeps the kitchen kosher. The meal is a typical Israeli hotel-style spread, with eggs, hot breads, jams concocted out of fresh local fruit, cheese, olives, and lots of little salads.
When with my family, we tend to order pizza in (we still have one teenager). With friends, I’ll usually stroll into town and dine in one of the kosher restaurants. If on a meditative retreat alone, I like to pick up the fixings of a light meal at the nearby mini-market and snack whenever I feel like it, in my room or outdoors, gazing at the Villa’s rambling garden and antique oddities tucked into unexpected nooks and corners.
Maybe there are fancier places to stay in the Galilee, but for healing, privacy, and beauty, I haven’t seen one to beat Villa Tehilah.
More on the beautiful Galilee from Green Prophet here:
All photos by Miriam Kresh.
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
