The Setai Sea of Galilee

Everything was great

Stayed here for our 1-year anniversary and my parents’ 40th. The villas and setting are beautiful, but nearly everything else fell short. --- The Good: Property (4.5/5): Gorgeous grounds, peaceful atmosphere, and well-kept facilities. Private Pools (5/5): Clean, refreshing, and easily the highlight of the stay. Booking a villa with a pool is 100% worth it. Villas (4/5): We stayed in both Golan and Kinneret villas. Golan villas are more spacious and private; Kinneret villas had noticeably stronger water pressure. Some pool shazes (loungers) lacked cushions, and no pool towels were provided — a surprising miss at this level. Shabbat Services (4/5): Handled respectfully. The mashgiach led short Sephardic services. Smooth and appropriate for the setting. --- The Mixed: Food (2.5/5 overall): Shabbat Dinner (3.5/5): Items like asado, foie gras, and lamb chops were offered — sounded amazing, but the execution was average at best. Desserts (2/5): Mostly parve mousse shots in little glasses and over-sweet macarons. Uninspired and too sugary. Breakfast (2/5): Very repetitive. Omelet bar was only available on weekdays. Otherwise: cheese blocks, yogurt, cereal, gnocchi, pancakes, and a salad bar. The fresh juice was the best part. Spa (3/5): Not overcrowded, but many guests were scheduled for procedures at the same time, causing a lot of waiting around. Massages were fine but nothing memorable. The scheduling system needs improvement. --- The Bad: Dining Setup (2/5): Very misleading. The “dairy restaurant” is just the indoor lounge with limited options: frozen ravioli, pizza, salad, and a surprisingly good vegan section. No table service. Only two physical menus exist. We ordered a dips platter that was supposed to include homemade bagel sticks — it arrived 15 minutes late and without the bread. Only after we asked did they say they were “out of bread.” Why even offer the dish? The “meat restaurant” is actually just a poolside bar with a grill. We didn’t eat there, but it had a very limited menu and didn’t resemble a real restaurant at all. Cocktail Bar (2/5): Located at the meat bar. The menu listed a full range of cocktails, but only 3 were actually available — all vodka with flavored syrups. The drinks were decent, but again, why offer a full menu if you can’t make most of it? Friday Night Dinner (1/5): Total chaos. Not enough tables for the number of guests coming from services. We waited over 30 minutes for staff to locate a table. When we were seated, the table was half-set with dirty glasses and silverware. It took additional time to receive silverware, tablecloths, and glasses. They eventually brought paper napkins because they had “run out” of cloth ones. Inexcusable for a resort of this category. Lobby Staff (2/5): No English spoken at the front desk. Communication was a constant struggle unless you speak Hebrew or Arabic. This created unnecessary friction during check-in and throughout the stay. Other staff at the hotel could

Terrible experience at The Setai Sea of Galilee – disrespectful and humiliating. We arrived to celebrate our anniversary after weeks of IDF reserve duty, only to be humiliated by a staff member named Nizar, who claimed to be a manager. When we returned from the shelter after a missile siren, dinner was already cleared. He told us, "Be thankful we only cleared at 9:15." Later, he added: "Nothing fell on you from the sky. You won't get money. Chill out." We were shocked. 5,700 NIS wasted on this experience. Avoid this hotel at all costs. אנחנו לא מחפשים פיצוי – רק שלא תביישו כך עוד אורחים. שילמנו 5,700 ש"ח לחופשה של אחרי צו 8, וקיבלנו יחס מזלזל, טלוויזיה שלא פעלה, ארוחה שפונתה מיד אחרי אזעקה, ואמירות בוטות של עובד בשם ניזאר שהעז לומר: "כסף לא תקבלי, תרגעי, לא נפל עלייך כלום מהשמיים." הבטחות לפיצוי? לא מומשו. לא נגיע שוב. ראוי שתתנצלו.