The Capital's Historic Building on Its Way to Becoming a New Luxury Hotel

The capital's historic building changes its purpose again, this time to a luxury hotel

The iconic Jerusalem building, which was used, among other things, in the 1950s as the "Della" hotel, and until recently as the flagship branch of the Bank of Jerusalem for 25 years, is once again on the verge of a change of purpose, this time to a luxury hotel.

The story of one of Israel's special buildings

It was built in 1932 as a two-story house and was bought by the Arab businessman Abdullah Rajwan, who lived there for several years with his family. Toward the end of the 1930s, the house was sold to Abraham and Adela Horvati, who lived on the second floor, and in 1954 they converted the first floor into a five-room hotel called "Della" (after the nickname of the landlady, Adela). For nearly a decade the hotel hosted government officials and national institutions, and it was later also rented out for the offices of the Jewish Agency and several business offices.

One of the hotel's guests during its years of operation, on his honeymoon, was Zalman Shoval, later the owner of the Bank of Jerusalem, who fell in love with the building, with its symmetrical facade and its central vertical window, which extended from the entrance floor to the second floor.

He bought it in 1992 and, after an extensive renovation, opened the bank's international flagship branch in 1996, and was identified with it for about 25 years.