| King David Hotel מלון המלך דוד | |
|---|---|
.jpg) King David Hotel | |
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| General information | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′28″N35°13′21″E / 31.77444°N 35.22250°E /31.77444; 35.22250 |
| Opening | 1931 |
| Owner | Dan Hotels |
| Management | Dan Hotels |
| Design and construction | |
| Developer | Frank Goldsmith |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 237 |
| Number of restaurants | 4 |
| Website | |
| King David Jerusalem Hotel | |
TheKing David Hotel (Hebrew:מלון המלך דוד,romanized: Malon ha-Melekh David;Arabic:فندق الملك داود,romanized: Funduq al-Malik Dāwūd) is a5-star hotel inJerusalem and a member ofThe Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, it was built with locally quarried pinklimestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It is located on King David Street in the centre of Jerusalem, overlooking theOld City andMount Zion, and is named after the Biblical KingDavid.
The hotel, owned and operated by theDan Hotels group, has traditionally been the chosen venue for hosting heads of state, dignitaries, politicians and celebrities during their visits to Jerusalem.
It is also famous for the 1946King David Hotel Bombing, when an attack by the Zionist organizationIrgun targeted the hotel's southern wing, which contained offices for the British authorities duringMandatory Palestine, killing 91 people of various nationalities and injuring 45.[1]
In 1929, Palestine Hotels Ltd. purchased 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) on Jerusalem's Julian's Way, today King David Street. Half the construction costs were paid byEzra Mosseri, an affluentEgyptian Jewish banker and director of theNational Bank of Egypt, and another 46% by theGoldschmidt family and other wealthy Cairo Jews. The approximately 4% remaining was paid by the National Bank of Egypt, which purchased 693 shares of the company between 1934 and 1943.[2]
From its earliest days, the King David Hotel hosted royalty: the dowager empress ofPahlavi dynasty,Tadj ol-Molouk, queen consortNazli of Egypt, andKing Abdullah I of Jordan stayed at the hotel, and three heads of state forced to flee their countries took up residence there:King Alfonso XIII ofSpain, forced to abdicate in 1931, EmperorHaile Selassie ofEthiopia, driven out by theItalians in 1936, andKing George II ofGreece, who set up his government in exile at the hotel after theNazi occupation of his country in 1942. During theMandatory Palestine, the southern wing of the hotel contained British administrative and military offices.
On July 22, 1946, the southwestern corner of the hotel wasbombed during an attack by the Zionist paramilitary groupIrgun. 91 people of various nationalities, including Britons, Arabs and Jews, were killed and 45 people were injured[1][3] by the militant right-wing group.[4] An earlier attempt by the Irgun to attack the hotel had been foiled when theHaganah learned of it, and warned theMandatory Palestine's British authorities.[5]
On May 4, 1948, when the British flag was lowered as the British Mandate ended, the building became a Jewish stronghold. At the end of the1948 Arab–Israeli War, the hotel found itself overlooking "no-man’s land" on thearmistice line that divided Jerusalem into Israeli and Jordanian territory. The hotel was purchased by the Dan Hotels chain in 1958. Multiple scenes in the 1960 filmExodus were shot at the hotel, both outside and inside, in the main lobby and on the terrace.[6][additional citation(s) needed] When East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel following the 1967Six-Day War, two additional floors were added.[citation needed]
Among the hotel's famous official guests: British monarchCharles III;King Hussein of Jordan; U.S. PresidentsRichard Nixon,Gerald Ford,Jimmy Carter,Bill Clinton,George W. Bush,Barack Obama,Donald Trump andJoe Biden; British Prime MinistersWinston Churchill,Harold Wilson,Margaret Thatcher,John Major, andTony Blair; Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi; U.S. politiciansHenry Kissinger[7] andHillary Clinton;[8] as well as many stars includingElizabeth Taylor,Richard Dreyfuss,Richard Gere andMadonna.
The design for the hotel was commissioned from a Swiss architect,Emil Vogt [de], with the actual construction supervised by Jerusalem architectBenjamin Chaikin.[9] According toHebrew University professorRuth Kark, Vogt's approach was typical of European architects who, commissioned to design buildings in Jerusalem, incorporated "Eastern-style domes, arches, various kinds of different-colored stone, and interior decorations with religious symbols and inscriptions," in buildings whose strict symmetry marks them indelibly as European.[10] The public rooms were decorated byGustave-Adolphe Hufschmid in motifs taken from Assyrian, Hittite, Phoenician and Muslim buildings in an effort to evoke a "Biblical" style.[11] Hufschmid, also Swiss, stated that his intention was "to evoke by reminiscence theancient Semitic style and the ambiance of the glorious period ofKing David."[12]
In the early days of the hotel, there were few Jews or Arabs on the staff. The chefs were Italian, the service staff were mostlyBerbers, the management was Swiss, and the menu served primarily European influenced dishes. In 1958, after ownership of the hotel changed hands, the kitchen began to comply withkashrut regulations, but continued to serve a kosher version of French influencedhaute cuisine. Dishes served by the hotel's restaurant during that era includedentrecote steak withbéarnaise sauce,pommes mignonettes dorées andsalmon poached incourt-bouillon. By the 1960s, demographics had changed with senior staff positions held mostly by Jews of German or Czech origin, and the restaurant had also started serving traditional dishes fromAshkenazi cuisine forshabbos dinners, such asgehakte leber andgefilte fish.[13] By the 1980s dinner menus includedkugel,kreplach inconsomme broth, andstrudel. Breakfasts consisted ofDanish pastry, fruit, cheese, andsmoked fish; the latter has become part of a typicalIsraeli breakfast.[14]
The hotel includes four dining options:
La Régence and King's Garden are run by executive chef David Biton.[19]
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