Ron Beach Hotel

Water meets balcony at Ron Beach Hotel, where every one of the 136 rooms opens onto a view of the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and, in winter, the snow on Mount Hermon. The hotel sits directly on the lake shore in Tiberias, a kilometre from the town centre, with its own stretch of private beach below a garden planted thick with palms and tropical shrubs. Rooms run from a 20 sqm single with one narrow bed to family rooms that sleep up to five, all fitted with a mini-bar, safe, and LCD screen, and all facing the water. A semi-Olympic pool sits beside a children's pool near the garden, shaded corners are strung with hammocks, and the dining room serves a non-kosher buffet of Israeli dishes looking straight out over the lake. There is a fitness room, a basketball court, and three meeting halls, the largest holding up to 100 people theatre-style. Built in 1977 by the Amsalem family, longtime residents of Tiberias, the hotel still operates under their management and has hosted pilgrims and visitors travelling to the holy sites around the lake ever since. It is a straightforward, family-run stay rather than a design hotel. Evenings bring a bar pouring wines from the Galilee and Golan Heights, and the garden by the water stays open for guests who want quiet after dinner.