History and luxury on the Golan Heights

• Author: NERIA BARR
• Published date: 25 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Pereh was built on the ruins of the French Custom House, where in 1916 British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francois Georges Picot negotiated and signed a secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, defining the two countries' "mutual agreed spheres" of influence and control in the eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire. Regarded by many as a pivotal episode in the history of the Middle East, the results of this secret agreement are still influencing our life here today.

Used later by the Syrian army as an outpost, the Bauhaus buildings were neglected after 1967 until, in 2012, the area was purchased by visionary businessman Leo Glaser, who planned to open a hostel for tourists visiting the area. Nine years later, with new partners – Ishay Malka, one of the owners of the Alegra Boutique Hotel in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, and entrepreneurs Avi Levy and Yair Biton – the new resort opened last week to the public.

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Since it is a historic location, the renovations – especially of the two Bauhaus buildings, which house the suites and garden rooms – were done under strict preservation regulations and took years, resulting in a beautiful and very unique resort that reflects, as Malka says, "the free, primal spirit of the Golan Heights, combined with our wish to provide our guests the highest standard of hospitality."

There are 27 rooms and suites, offering different designs, layouts and sizes, which occupy four buildings.

The hotel was designed by the studio of Dannah Leitersdorf and Tamara Gleser-Shafran, who used mainly local natural materials in the buildings and furnishings, such as local basalt stone, natural mineral plaster and reclaimed wood collected in the area.

Attention to detail is apparent everywhere you look. The carefully chosen furnishings, the artwork, the plants and the materials used all provide a sense of quiet luxury, while still being very much local and reflecting the past. One can feel the history everywhere – walking between the buildings in the exquisitely renovated public areas, the beautiful gardens and the basalt-stone swimming pool.

The rooms, especially the suites and garden rooms, were restored to resemble the way the French Customs House looked at the beginning of the 20th century, including century-old wooden floors, rounded stone walls...