This year marks the 40th
anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, when Israel annexed the Arab
eastern section of the city after the Six-Day War. Despite continuing strife
between its rival factions, the holy city has flourished in the ensuing decades
as a pilgrimage site for followers of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths.
Throughout it all, the American Colony Hotel has stood as a bastion of
tolerance, tranquillity, and taste.
 The main building of the American Colony, which in the late
19th century served as a residence for an extended family from the United
States, opened as a hotel in the early 1900s. The hotel today—with its Arab
staff and East Jerusalem location—draws guests far different from those of the
luxury hotels in the city’s Jewish western section. Politicians, journalists,
and jet setters fill the hotel’s verdant courtyard café, where progressive
Palestinians and Israelis meet to drink and deal. Come winter, the crowd
heads for the hotel’s Cellar Bar, a lively watering hole located behind thick
walls on the basement level.
Beyond the buzz of the bars, the American Colony offers 73
rooms and 13 suites that are spread among the hotel’s original building and its
newer, executive-friendly structures. Armenian tiles and gilded, handpainted
ceilings in the main house betray its origins as the former home of a Turkish
pasha. The building’s most desirable accommodation, the Pasha Suite, is
appointed with mother-of-pearl furniture and affords prime views of East
Jerusalem.
 LOCATION In the heart of Arab East Jerusalem, within walking distance
of the Old City and Damascus Gate.
ACCOMMODATIONS The 73 rooms and 13 suites are split between the original wing,
which dates to 1860, and newer buildings added in the 1970s and ’80s. The
former—with its arches, domes, rustic furnishings, and city views—is the better
option for vacationers, while the latter structures best serve business
travelers.
FACILITIES A heated outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, and sauna, plus
a bookstore and antiques shop. DINING Restaurants range from a casual courtyard café to the formal
Arabesque restaurant. Not to miss is the Saturday brunch, which consists of a
feast of regional and Continental foods. CONCIERGE RECOMMENDS Visit the Dome of the Rock, a gold-covered shrine built by the
Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in the seventh century. The structure is the world’s
oldest Islamic monument and a historically significant site for the Jewish and
Christian faiths.
RATES From $325 for a standard room in the hotel’s contemporary wings
to $740 for the one-bedroom Pasha Suite in the historic building.
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