I love this apartment, have rented it twice, and would do so again. Daniel, the manager among a set of brothers who own the apartment, could not be nicer or more welcoming. And the view from their apartment over the Mediterranean Sea is among my favorite vistas in all of Israel. The picture on the website is accurate, but does not do the scene justice. It is spectacular. Time on their balcony is a great way to start the day. Likewise convenient, is that there is a bodega-like store next door to the apartment for any emergency purchases, and a full-service supermarket 1 and ½ blocks away. Similarly, the shops and cafes of the city center, and the performing arts center, are an easy (and leisurely) 10-minute walk from the apartment. The key caveat that I would share with new travelers to Israel is that Tel Aviv is Tel Aviv, Jerusalem is Jerusalem, and Ashdod is Ashdod. These places are really distinct; each with their own rhythms and paces. I love Ashdod for its wide boulevards, miles of spacious beaches, slightly slower and more casual pace than the bigger cities, and joyful life among Israelis who are happy to be there in that place. Every other spot in Israel that one would want to go and visit is a modest car or train ride away; making Ashdod a great departure point for adventure, and an easy place to return to after a day’s worth of adventures. (By comparison, getting in and out of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Haifa by car is a lot more challenging.) And so a key lesson from my trip this time is that Ashdod is not for everyone; it is a particular kind of perfect.

The apartment and host were wonderful.

If I could live in Ashdod year round, this is where I'd live. Exceptionally clean building and couldn't be located any better for the beach, shopping, and restaurants (just far enough from the mall and the Ashdod Bus Station and Ashdod Train Station to walk off your dinner or catch a ride to anywhere! The view from the balcony continues to astound every night. Can hardly wait for our next visit with Dan who is so accommodating and pleasant to work with!

Our family stayed in this wonderful apartment in Ashdod for ten days, and we could not have chosen a better place or more kindly and attentive owners. The owners live right in the building and give you all the privacy you need, but they are there if you have a problem or a question (we had neither). They are also incredibly prompt with e-mail and responding to questions.The building is spotlessly clean, as was the apartment itself, and perfectly located for anyone who wants to walk or bicycle to the beach, Wednesday shuk, shopping, and restaurants. It is a 15-minute taxi drive from the railroad station or to the big mall (where there is excellent Asian food at Kanpai and shopping galore) and a 15-minute walk from Ashdods Central Bus Station. Ashdod is perfectly safe and mostly residential, so you can walk anywhere at any time. Right next door to the building is a mini-market with fair prices and everything you can need (if you don’t want to take the longer walk to the local Supersol), along with a vegan falafel/shwarma restaurant run by lovely people who will fix you some nice takeout. There is plenty of room in the apartment, which features a large kitchen with both meat and dairy settings (although we are vegan, so we didn’t worry about that), three good-sized bedrooms with plenty of storage space for your clothes, and it can sleep a total of seven people, with two full bathrooms with showers, AND a balcony for dining with a seaside view of the Mediterranean, plus television, free wi-fi, a washing machine and drying rack, towels, plenty of blankets (we came in the winter), and linens. The kitchen is large as is the living room which has comfy, overstuffed furniture.All in all, since we have family living in Ashdod and we visit Israel about once a year or so, we feel we have finally found our “home away from home” and hope we can stay here again in the future.