The Flâneurs

Flân’ Club: The Jaffa Hotel, Tel-Aviv

British designer John Pawson has transformed a historic convent and 19th-century hospital into the new Jaffa Hotel in Tel Aviv.

Photography: Amit Geron

The Flân’ Club celebrates hospitality locations that inspire us and hopefully will inspire you too.

Formerly the School of the Sisterhood of Saint Joseph convent and a disused French Hospital, the structures, the boutique hotel is made of 120-bedrooms, an outdoor pool, all connected by arched colonnades and gardens. As well as 32 private residences, each with its own entry.

Pawson worked with local architect and conservationist Ramy Gill to transform the property, mixing the variety of architectural styles – including Arabic and neo-Roman – with contemporary elements. The entrance hall feature pieces of modern furnishings, including orange lounge chairs by Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata for Cappellini, and pieces by French designer Pierre Paulin. You can also find works of art by British artist Damien Hirst and images by Israeli photographer Tal Shochat. The Jaffa Hotel sits near the top of the hill where the ancient Mediterranean port is located, to the south of the Israeli city’s modern centre.