"In the hotel industry, the holidays are very happy. Rosh Hashanah and Passover are wow. This year is something completely different," says Sharona Lahav, CEO of the U Splash Resort Eilat hotel from the Fatal hotel chain, which is fully populated by members of the Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak community who came from the surrounding area and are numbered in the hotel ranging from 600 to 450 people.
The hotels claim: "We were told that towards the end of the month the evacuees will vacate"
Some of the hotels in Israel are still occupied by evacuees from the surrounding and northern regions, people for whom the last five months have been traumatic in many ways. "Holidays are a complete celebration, and suddenly now they are more subdued," says Lahav. "The joy is not complete, there are still abductees in the community, some were murdered. That's why it's terribly different. With very delicate steps we make the preparations for the holiday, dance with them a ballet dance according to their rhythm, as I define it."
What is meant by?
"Usually to prepare a holiday meal, I sit down with the chef, prepare a menu and go. Whereas now I first sit down with Nir Yitzhak evacuees, check their wishes, and we adjust ourselves to their tastes as well. For example, they asked for more gefilte-fish, so I am increasing the quantities. I also asked, 'What do you usually do?' , as they were used to sitting. We really build the holiday together with them to give them a feeling of home. This is very important, because now the hotel is their home."
The sadness, as mentioned, accompanies the holiday atmosphere, which makes everything, according to Lahav, much more subdued. "They celebrate Passover alongside sadness, and that's the biggest difference," she says. "This is the first time I have come across this as a hotelier. If on normal days I always bring crazy outdoor shows on Passover, performances and dances in the pool, do upgraded receptions with music – there is no such thing this year. From the moment the kibbutz came to us, there is life before and life after. I realized that Passover It will look different at the hotel. We are very emotionally connected. I can't bring a carnival now, I'm with them with the sadness, we're already part of it."
"The state is not there"
"In fact, for the past ten years during Passover, there are a number of agents who book almost all the rooms in the hotel. Mainly a religious-traditional audience comes to us for the holiday, and normally on Seder night we have almost 22 private seders besides the main seder in the dining room. Families come, most of them for eight days, among them also A large community outside of Israel. This is their time to meet once a year with the whole family," says Amir Yaron, CEO of the Nof Ginosar Hotel on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, where, starting in October, evacuees from Kibbutz Yiftah, Kiryat Shmona and a number of other settlements from the northern border are staying.
This year, the guests that Yaron was used to during Passover in the last decade will not arrive, because as mentioned all the rooms are occupied by evacuees. "All the hotels in Israel that house evacuees operate according to a banal agreement of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Finance, which actually tells us what we are obligated to give to the evacuees and what we receive from the state," he says. "This is a very basic agreement, with meager menus, the minimum of the minimum. We thought that on Passover the state would come and improve the agreement a little so that we could upgrade the whole issue of meals and the atmosphere of the holiday, but unfortunately the state is not there. What is happening is that we as hoteliers – also because in the end the evacuees They are our ambassadors – we automatically upgrade their meals even on regular days and even more so on Pesach. For five months I give beyond what I am obligated to, and I do this on Pesach as well, even though the whole issue of kosher and raw materials automatically becomes more expensive during the holidays. Before the holiday, we took menus of The last few years, and we re-adjusted. We presented it to them, and all in all – everything is fine."
What will the holiday eve look like for you?
"We are in discussions with the communities in the hotel. We asked them to get an assessment of what happens with each community during Passover: who stays, who leaves, who wants to bring the family to celebrate at a very symbolic price, whether it's just for Seder night or for the whole week. We are coordinating expectations, so We as a hotel will know how to prepare better. If, for example, I know that the large majority stay during the holidays and I have about 150 children in the hotel, then I will bring an activity suitable for children, and in the evening an activity for adults."
If as mentioned in the last ten years many families rented a hall in the hotel and celebrated seder privately, then now it is expected that there will be one central seder in the hotel restaurant. "Everyone eats in the same place without separation," says Yaron. "It's also something challenging, because the people of Kiryat Shmona, for example, are more traditional, and qualifications are more important to them. It's less interesting for some of the Yafotah Maponi, and in the end I need to know how to make the adjustments and also give more than the basic that the state gives."
As refugees in their own country, are the evacuees even in the mood to celebrate a holiday?
"We do our best to get them to be the most connected to the place and give them the feeling that they are, so to speak, at home, but in the end they are not in their home for almost six months. It's challenging, it's not easy." 120 people who were forced to leave their home are currently staying at the Edmond hotel in Rosh Pina. "Most of them are essential workers, residents of Kiryat Shmona, and their spouses. We are a boutique hotel without children. That's why most of the people here are 50 plus, those whose children have already left home," says Omer Porat, the hotel's CEO. "Ahead of the holiday, we make lists of who Who goes out to the family outside the hotel, and who stays at the hotel. As for those who stay, we will allow families from outside to be brought to the Seder dinner – including children and grandchildren – for a nominal fee. But it's only for a meal, not for the night."
The construction of the holiday meal menu, Porat says, "is done in collaboration with the guests, with some of the dishes being prepared by the guests themselves. Two or three times a week I let a few guests from the hotel who request it cook for all the guests. There are people here who own food businesses. Currently their businesses are not are active, so they enter the kitchen for fun and to pass the time."
Any special requests regarding the menu?
"For the holiday dinner, for example, they asked for a dish of head meat, certain fish, lamb chops, all kinds of special things. I don't usually make head meat here, but they want the flavors of the house, and I bring them." According to Porat, the seder itself will be divided into two dining rooms, where in each room one of the guests will conduct the seder. "That was their request," he says, noting that the evacuees staying at the hotel volunteered not only to cook a few dishes for the holiday meal, but also to help clean up before Passover. "They really want to help us prepare the hotel for Passover and ask to participate in the cleaning. They are ready to help with anything we need," he says.
"know the flavors"
"We celebrate all the holidays with the evacuees, Tu of Shabbat, Hanukkah, Purim, and now we are preparing for Passover," says Haim Setathihu, CEO of Ein Gav Tourism. "As of October 7, the Ein Gev resort is inhabited by evacuees from 20 different settlements in the northern region, about 350 people. They are great people, the relationship with them is good and we try to make their stay as easy as possible. This is the first time in hotels in Israel that a family is staying at the hotel Such a long time, and it's not easy at all."
How are you preparing for Passover?
"We have already made lists with the families of those traveling from here on the holiday and if there are any who want to host guests at the holiday village for Seder night. Those will enter the meal for a fee. We will make one central seder with 250 people that we will conduct in the main dining room with the symbols of the seder. I take into account that I am conducting the seder Just like we used to do with the regular guests who used to come on vacation. I don't spare a thing. It starts with a reception before the seder and continues with a special meal. In addition to that there will be another hall where two extended families asked to have a seder for themselves. Since the weather will be great in April, then probably Another 100 people will do the seder outside, near the rooms, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. We will provide them with tables, equipment, food, serving utensils."
Were there discussions about dishes at the holiday dinner?
"The relationship with the guests is a daily relationship. We already know more or less the flavors, what to add, what not. It's not really a consultation about the menu, but the food and beverage team as mentioned already knows them. We will try to do everything to make it go smoothly for them. I I really hope that we will all return to normal as soon as possible and that we will soon see the abductees and the abductees return to their homes."
© 2024 News In Israel - Israeli News In English. All Rights Reserved.