Eilat’s new theme hotel oozes gaudy exoticism

EILAT -- 'How do you like my clothes?" Shlomi says proudly. "They're authentic." Shlomi is standing at the entrance to the Eilat Airport with a parchment sign that says "Herods." He is wearing a rust-colored suit with baggy trousers and a mandarin collar.

When I ask "authentic what?" he replies that it represents ancient times. When I press him and ask what ancient times, he thinks for a moment and decides that it represents the Nabateans.

"You know, 3,000 years ago," he says.

Shlomi's outfit, like that of every other worker at Herods, was designed by Yoav Igra, the owner, builder and architect of Herods Palace, Eilat's newest resort and Israel's first theme hotel.

Igra, an architect, designer, investor and sailor, has designed not only the staff uniforms, but also the minarets on the towers of the Palace, the "remains" of a mosaic in the entry, an Italian wrought-iron chandelier hanging from a chain 12 stories above it and the waterspouting tigers that line the pool.

About the only things that he did not design are the Oriental carpets and the inlaid mother-of-pearl chairs and ornamental chest in the lobby. The latter he acquired from Syria.

"I can tell you it wasn't easy," Igra says with a wry laugh.

The 330-room Herods Palace is the first of a three-part resort complex managed by Sheraton Israel and being built at a cost of more than $100 million.

Due to be completed this summer is the adjoining 64-room Herods Vitalis, a spa hotel that will be Israel's first in Sheraton's exclusive Luxury Collection. Next year, the third part of the complex, the 104-room Herods Forum, is slated to open as a convention center.

Sipping a vodka and tonic in the restaurant of the Palace, Igra watches a seemingly impromptu parade, opened by two handsome black men wearing dervish outfits and performing a drumbeat on their chests.

In Hebrew and English, they announce that they are celebrating Dushba, "a Nabatean festival." They are followed by four dancing girls in diaphanous robes, who do a sort of belly dance.

"There is no Dushba," Igra says laughing as the dancing girls make their way down the aisle.

Eli Gonen, general manager of Koor Tourism, which owns Sheraton Israel, says Herods will not only benefit the Sheraton chain, but help to upgrade Eilat as a destination. The chain has earmarked it as one of five properties worldwide for prime marketing efforts for 1999.

Victor, the concierge, wears a suit when he is at his desk, but from time to time he can be seen leading groups of guests on tours of the hotel, dressed in a long robe and headdress. His outfit is almost that of a Bedouin, but not quite. On second glance, it becomes obvious that he is dressed like a 19th-century biblical illustration.

The waiters and doormen have to be able to act, not just work. Like at most of the hotels in Eilat and elsewhere around the country, the majority of Herods' workers are recently discharged soldiers.

In addition to dressing up, the staff have other ways of putting guests in a special mood. The hostess at the restaurant bows slightly as we walk in.

"Erev kasum, a magical evening," she says.

I find myself bowing in return.

All this goes well with a decor that could be described as Middle Eastern eclectic, to put it mildly. Interiors and exteriors proliferate with domes, arches, cupolas and pillars. And these are interspersed with trees and other greenery.

Igra draws from every historical period from King Solomon's copper mines to the British Mandate. There are even, in the lounge, a series of coffee tables whose glass tops reveal sand tables underneath with the figures of soldiers. The uniforms of the soldiers are not identifiable, but the sand tables conjure up images of the Sinai Campaign, the Six-Day War or the Yom Kippur War.

All this is connected by a "legend" of a fortress-castle built by nomadic tribes and visited by all those who passed through the region and left their mark in the decor and furnishings.

The question now is whether the hotel itself will age well. Igra himself notes that there are luxury hotels that were built in Eilat only a decade or two ago that are already on the decline.

He would like to see it eventually develop a reputation similar to that of Jerusalem's King David Hotel, which becomes even more distinguished with age.

Gonen says he has no doubt the hotel will age well, since it has not been built in line with current fashion, but rather is based on historical themes.

"They may have to renovate the physical structure, but the legend will remain," Gonen says.