The boutique hotel has been closed since Israeli independence in 1948.
The first hotel in Tiberias, depicted by Israeli artist Nahum Gutman, will reopen on Friday. The hotel, renamed, Shirat Hayam ("Song of the Sea", will have 11 rooms.
Originally known as the Haifa Hotel, it was built in 1850 and expanded in 1925. The four-storey 500-sq.m. building on the Kinneret waterfront is made from black volcanic basalt stone.
The hotel is depicted in Gutman's painting "The Tiberias boardwalk", as well as in paintings by other well-known artists. Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum was a hotel guest in 1946, after which the hotel's name was changed to "Star of the East". The hotel was abandoned after Israel's independence in 1948, and its management was taken over by government housing company Amidar Ltd., which leased it to several tenants.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 19, 2009
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