The Drisco: Tel Aviv's Historic Boutique Alternative to the Beachfront Towers
By Beni Levin · July 16, 2026
The Drisco has been standing in Tel Aviv since 1866, which makes it older than the city around it. Tel Aviv itself was founded in 1909, and the building that now houses this 42-room hotel was one of the original structures of the American Colony, a settlement built by American and German Templer families on what was then farmland at the edge of Jaffa. It was restored over several years by the architecture and conservation firm Mimar Naor before reopening as The Drisco, and it now belongs to the Relais & Chateaux collection, an association whose vetting is worth taking seriously.
That history is not a marketing flourish added to a modern build. The stone walls, the room proportions, the shutters, these are the actual bones of a building from the late Ottoman era, not a themed reproduction of one. A recent Reddit thread in r/TravelIsrael, where a traveler described staying at the Drisco as "the most interesting hotel in the city," picked up on exactly this: the sense of sleeping inside a documented piece of pre-state Tel Aviv rather than a hotel dressed up to look old.
Where It Sits: The American Colony, Not the Beach
Tel Aviv's best-known luxury hotels, the Hilton, the David Kempinski, the Carlton, cluster along the beachfront promenade, and for good reason: the sea is right there. The Drisco takes a different position, literally. It sits in the American Colony, the small historic quarter that borders Neve Tzedek and Jaffa, several streets back from the water.
That location trades a sea view for something else: Shabazi Street's boutiques and cafes, Neve Tzedek's low-rise 19th-century lanes, and the Jaffa flea market, all within an easy walk. For a traveler who has already done a beachfront stay in Tel Aviv, or who wants to split a trip between beach days and a neighborhood that feels more like a European old town than a resort strip, the Drisco's address is most of the argument for staying there.
Inside: 42 Rooms and a Restaurant Called George & John
Forty-two rooms is a small number by Tel Aviv hotel standards, and that is deliberate. It keeps the Drisco closer in feel to a Relais & Chateaux country house than a city hotel, with a service ratio that a 200-room tower down the coast simply cannot offer.
The hotel's restaurant, George & John, has become as much a reason to book as the rooms themselves. Both the Jerusalem Post and Robb Report, in their coverage of the property, singled out the restaurant and the building's restoration as what actually makes the Drisco worth the detour, rather than treating it as a convenient on-site meal option.
Who the Drisco Actually Suits
Here is the practical detail that matters most for planning a family trip: the Drisco is adults-only. It is not a hotel to book for a family with young children in tow, and that should be factored into an itinerary upfront rather than discovered at check-in.
Where it earns its place is as an add-on, not a base. A couple traveling alongside grandparents or older relatives might peel off for a night or two here while the rest of the family stays somewhere with a pool and kids' amenities. It also works well as a pre- or post-trip stay for the adults, bookended around the family portion of a longer Israel itinerary.
Where This Fits Into a Tel Aviv Trip
The Drisco isn't a replacement for the beachfront family hotels covered elsewhere on this blog; it's a companion to them, a way to see a side of Tel Aviv that a beachfront tower doesn't show. Pair a stay here with a walk through Neve Tzedek and a stop at some of the family activities in Tel Aviv beyond the beach, and the adults-only nights start to make sense as one piece of a longer, mixed itinerary rather than an odd fit.
If you're weighing where a stay like this fits into your family's trip to Israel, reach out to our team to start planning your family's trip to Israel; we can work out which nights make sense at a hotel like the Drisco and which call for something built around the kids.