As international travel heats up just in time for the summer season, and as Covid-19 restrictions ease up around the world to an almost pre-pandemic level - especially in Israel, which implemented some of the strictest travel restrictions worldwide, including an entry ban on non-Israeli visitors – the Brown Hotels Collection, an international hospitality group, has launched an array of new hotels and resorts across Greece, alongside its impressive collection of boutique hotels and nightlife attractions in Israel.
Brown Hotels kicked off the summer season with its Israel-Greece Conference, an exclusive gathering of ministers, government officials and business leaders from the travel, real estate and tech sectors from both Israel and Greece. The conference, sponsored by the Brown Group, in partnership with Israel’s Calcalist financial newspaper, pointed a spotlight on the travel and tourism sectors as both Israel and Greece prepare for a fruitful summer season with an influx of expected tourists who will finally be able to enjoy the Mediterranean Sea, sunny beaches, great food and historical sites of both of the attractive coastline countries.
The conference location, Isla Brown Corinthia, was the perfect setting for a day dedicated to discussions about tourism opportunities and served as the opening celebration of Brown’s new 5-star resort under the new Isla Brown brand.
Brown Hotels Collection started as an Israeli boutique hotel group, with stylish urban hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and rapidly transformed into an international hospitality collection with hotels and resorts spanning across Israel, Greece and Croatia.
In Israel, where the ‘blue and white’ hotel collection first made its mark, Brown offers guests a rich taste of the city – whether in its Tel Aviv hotels, rooftops and nightlife attractions, or the ones in Jerusalem located in key areas across the city.
“We’re happy to once again welcome international visitors who couldn’t come to Israel due to the pandemic,” said Leon Avigad, founder and co-owner of Brown Hotels Collection, alongside Nir Waizman and Nitzan Perry. “During the past few years, Brown has evolved into one of the most interesting and exciting rapidly-growing hospitality brands, with 17 hotels in Tel Aviv alone - meeting every budget and every need from business trips, family vacations to romantic weekends– topped by four design hotels in Jerusalem and two exciting new hotels in Israel’s southern family-vacation city, Eilat”.
The four hotels in Jerusalem are particularly interesting for the world traveler eager for a cultural and culinary experience marked by history and site-seeing.
Brown Hotels in Israel
The romantic Villa Brown Moshava is located in a historical landmark building at the heart of Jerusalem’s German Colony- known for the historically-rich Valley of Ghosts (Emek Refaim) scene- just steps away from the Old City of Jerusalem, designed with an authentic Jerusalem-style touch.
“The DNA of Brown is in the unique spirit of the city found in each of our collection’s hotels.”
Leon Avigad
Brown JLM is Brown’s centrally-located boutique hotel, near the famous Mamilla Mall and close to the Old City. The location lies at the crossroads between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Jerusalem, providing guests with access to the ultimate site-seeing, shopping and culinary attractions, just a few steps away.
Brown Mahane Yehuda captures the true essence of Jerusalem’s legendary Mahane Yehuda market nearby, which in recent years has become the center of Jerusalem’s nightlife scene and is now the home to the city’s best bars and restaurants. The hotel is adorned with gold and black touches, and the rooms provide high-quality mattresses and linens, making it a dream to go to bed after a night out on the market.
“The DNA of Brown is in the unique spirit of the city found in each of our collection’s hotels,” added Avigad.
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s famous beachfront nightlife city, Brown Hotels Collection offers visitors a wide array of accommodations in every part of the city.
Brown’s Hôtel BoBo is a contemporary boutique hotel at the heart of the city’s chic urban scene – on the corner of Tel Aviv’s well-known lively Rothchild Boulevard. “The hotel offers the ultimate Tel Avivian hospitality experience of urban renewal and symbolizes the process that the city center is currently undergoing - office buildings transformed into vibrant hospitality centers,” explains Oshri Deri, Global CEO of Brown Hotels Collection.
The hotel’s rooftop bar, plunge pool and restaurant are considered one of the city’s most exclusive nightlife spots, attracting locals and internationals alike.
For beach-lovers, Lighthouse by Brown is the way to go. The hotel is only a two-minute walk from Tel Aviv’s finest beaches, with incredible views of the Mediterranean and Tel Aviv’s skyline. “Our sky bar on the 18th floor was created especially for guests and locals who want to experience the city that never sleeps,” says Deri. “Lighthouse is the perfect blend of urban and trendy, offering both views and fun,” he continues.
Brown’s Poli House hotel lies in the heart of the city’s eclectic, bustling southern area - the design and feel capturing the soul of Tel Aviv’s urban scene of street-art-lined alleyways. Its modern and whimsical design, panoramic views, rooftop pool and sundeck and stylish cocktail bar, give the visitor a true feel of the city.
In Tel Aviv, Brown provides 17 hotel options – from beachfront to urban chic – all meeting the Collection’s aesthetic and hospitality standards.
Brown Hotels in Greece
“The growth Brown experienced in Israel complements the impressive growth that Brown celebrates all around Greece,” explains Avigad. “Over 50 new hotels are expected to open within the next three years in Greece alone.”
Brown has already established five successful hotels in Athens and has recently opened four resorts in Greece, including its flagship resort, Isla Brown Corinthia, located just a 50-minute drive west of Athens.
Known for its creative design line and for capturing the essence of its surroundings in every one of its locations, Brown Hotels has taken its successful model in Israel and extended it to Greece. “Whether it’s in Greece, Croatia or Israel, Brown would like to tell its story to locals and world travelers alike, in urban hubs as well as in our coastline resorts,” says Leon Avigad.
The Group’s successful entry into the Greek market isn’t trivial. Most of the hotels were under development just as the Coronavirus pandemic halted global travel and devastated the tourism and travel industries. During this period, Brown Hotels Group relentlessly invested in and established new hotels across Greece and expanded its collection to include the new exclusive beachfront resorts brand, Isla Brown, which joined the Brown Beach and Brown Villa sub-brands.
Isla Brown Corinthia is an exclusive 5-star resort, the first of three luxury resorts that will open by the end of 2023 under the Isla Brown brand. The other two resorts will be located on the Greek Islands of Crete and Corfu. The new resorts will add a new level of luxury and comfort to the Brown Hotels Group hospitality experience, which is currently known for its boutique urban hotels in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Athens.
Isla Brown Corinthia was designed by the award-winning architecture firm Elastic Architects, with clean lines and organic shapes complimenting the hotel’s natural surroundings. The hotel offers seamlessly designed rooms and suites with views overlooking the endless blue sea of the Isthmus peninsula, with swimming pools, restaurants and bars, a wellness center and spa, a gym, a private beach with a floating water park and activities, extreme water sporting facilities for children and adults – and much more.
"After 12 years of operating an ever-growing collection of urban boutique hotels, and due to our successful entry into the Greek market, we decided to take our experience and expertise in urban renewal and apply it to resorts in breathtaking locations on Greece’s beaches and islands which were known mainly to locals until today."
Leon Avigad
In addition to Isla Brown, Brown Hotels Group is continuing to develop the Brown Beach brand and expanding the collection to include resorts. This July, two new resorts will be added to Brown Beach House Tel Aviv and Brown Beach Croatia – Brown Beach Chalkadia and Brown Beach Eretria, both located on the Greek Island Evia, the second largest island in Greece, connected to the mainland by bridge and only a two-hour drive from Athens.
Brown Beach Chalkida offers rooms overlooking the sea or green Mediterranean gardens. Its design is characterized by the modern, clean lines inspired by the Cycladic aesthetic. Brown’s designers transformed the resort into a dreamy vacation retreat with soft creamy and earthy tones embellished by glistening shades of blue from the sea and sky and constructed with natural materials such as wood, stone, marble and terrazzo.
The resort also offers a swimming pool, Italian restaurant, Mediterranean bar and snack bar on the beach, spa and bath-house, a fully equipped gym and a stylish event hall.
Brown Beach Eretria’s rooms and bungalows face the breathtaking panoramic view of the Euboean Gulf, designed with the iconic Greek colors – blue and white. The resort lies in the historic city of Eretria, a 90-minute drive from Athens, and offers guests two swimming pools, a gym and a spa. Designed especially for families and children, the hotel offers countless activities and experiences for the entire family, including a floating waterpark, extreme water sports and much more.
Leon Avigad concludes, “After 12 years of operating an ever-growing collection of urban boutique hotels, and due to our successful entry into the Greek market, we decided to take our experience and expertise in urban renewal and apply it to resorts in breathtaking locations on Greece’s beaches and islands which were known mainly to locals until today. The uniqueness of these resorts, from Isla Brown Corinthia to Brown Beach Chalkida and Eretria in the Island of Evia, is their proximity to Athens, making them the perfect vacation destinations for both local and international travelers.”
This article was written in cooperation with the Brown Hotels Collection.