Michael
Try the dorm in tel aviv university.
maybe they can help you now .

It's high season in Tel Aviv? In the middle of a war?

Sure, Gary. No rockets have hit Tel Aviv yet, and a number of tour groups have redirected trips to the north to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (and even the south) rather than cancelling outright. So Tel Aviv has most of its normal tourists, plus a bunch of extras. It's rediculously packed right now, from what I'm hearing.

Hey -- why don't you contact AbbaGav? He might have some ideas.

I've asked the folks at TripAdvisor, which includes many Israelis and several guides, for any suggestions, which they will either post or I'll pass along. Hotels in TA are premium -- not so much because its the 'high' season -- that's more the religious holidays, I gather -- but because anyone from northern Israel who CAN afford it is staying in hotels. Plus there are special 'solidarity tours' being put together bringing people over on short notice.

They often recommend a woman named Orit at Regency Travel, in Tel Aviv, as a real whiz at hotels. (03) 694-7778

IF you could reach Nechaimia Dagan (IAF Gen Ret.) at Isram Travel, and tell him what you're about, it might be a tremendous opportunity. (He's hosting a special tour next week for the Israel Law Center, so he's around. I spent part of a day tagging around with him on an ILC group tour in June.) Even just to talk to him -- amazing man.

There are a couple different vacation apartment places on Hayarkon St near Dizengoff.

For a spectacular, reasonably inexpensive dinner -- GooCha - corner of Dizengoff and Ben Gurion. Have a glass of Galil Mountain Cabernet for me, and I'll toss in a few more PayPal bucks. Really.

Try Telavivguide.net.

You might also consider looking at rates in Jerusalem -- no beach, maybe a bit cheaper.

Enjoy a little bit, even tho it's a working trip. Tel Aviv is such a cool, vibrant city. And if you do get up north, check out the Huleh Valley and Golan Heights. Lucky you -- wish I was there!

Try finding a hotel in Herzelia or Netanya, although it will be very difficult these days since all the rooms are occupied with people from the north.
You can try going to the tent city in Nizanim, where many people from the north stay these days, and get to see how people live outside the buble of Tel Aviv.
Don't you plan on going to the north? visit Metula and Haifa and Kiryat Shmone? I'm sure that people will invite you to stay with them in the shelter.
I will try to think of a way to help you, and ask my friends to see what we can do.
Good luck!!!

MT,

I recon thar be a glut of vacancy's up North in Israel, rooms aplenty I hear near Lebanon and you'd be figuren on better chances to git close up to some reportin action too...

a regular two-fer, like we say down in Texas.

hey there michael. this doesn't answer your question regarding accommodation in tel aviv......sorry and good luck!! however, having been on your website for the past hour, we have found your articles about lebanon extremely interesting. being australian-lebanese christians ourselves, we appreciate your viewpoints and perceptions of lebanon. having been bought up in australia, it's very normal for non-lebanese people to see lebanon as a backward, war-zone, arab country. after reading your article 'the dark romance of beirut', we would like to congratulate you on such a fruitful piece of work and are happy to know that other people like yourself see Beirut (Lebanon) as a modern place of fun, excitement and passion filled with lively spirited people. Despite this hard time of turmoil which Lebanon is facing, we have faith in the country and it's people that peace and independence will be granted to the lebanese people.......as this is the lebanese dream. Keep up the fantastic work and the best of luck with your travels. We hope that oneday the world will see and experience Beirut as you have. God bless!

I've asked my son in Tel Aviv to ask around, but if you are really stuck we have a spare room in Netanya for a couple of weeks.

As someone who has had to endure spending last summer in the Tel Aviv University dorms, I would advise against staying there. While cheap, they dont have A/C and were very run down (I was in the Beit Milman dorms, not the ones on Einstein).

I did a quick search of the anemic Tel Aviv Craigslist site and here are some links to companies that rent short/medium term apartments in Tel Aviv:

http://fonisol.com/telaviv/telavivapartments.htm

http://www.telaviv-apartment.com/

Hope this helps, good luck,
-Eric

Michael,

Join the Yahoo group Taanglo (Tel-Aviv anglos),
and look for an apt there, or ask for one.
It's basically a classified ad site for English
speaking Tel-Avivnicks.
if you head for Jerusalem, you can join
jaanglo.

oops, the url: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taanglo/

I'd say you can find lots of cheap accomodations up north nowadays ;)

And as for suicide bombers - in the last month, they've caught 8 or 9 of these, usually at the last minute. Once a week you get huge traffic jams because there's a bomber with a belt in the field, and they're searching for him from car to car.

I see you've gotten a few links already - for what it's worth, you can check www.homeless.co.il - it's in hebrew, though.
Here's a link to a search for 1.5-2.5 room apartments in central Tel-Aviv with furniture and air conditioning.

http://www.homeless.co.il/rent/default.asp?Search=1&OrderBy=&AscDesc=&Page=1&iNumber1=17&iNumber3=11&iNumber4=2&iNumber4_1=4&iNumber5=1&iNumber6=1&SearchFor=&x=19&y=13

The 4th column from the right is monthly rent, the 7th from the right is the entrance date - you want מיידי (immediate). Click the leftmost column to see details - you'll find the phone number easily. Most people will be able to converse in English :)

Good luck!

Everyone else's advice is surely more informed than mine. But, you being a citizen journalist and all, maybe some of the newswire offices could give you some leads?

Asking at the local universities and even the yeshivas might turn something up, too. If it was the Succoth holiday, you could crash in a haredi household for a few days!

I've also directed people here from my own blog, in hopes that someone more knowledgeable and, um, with more disposable income will happen by and click through.

you can email me, and i can try to arrange for accommodation for you with one of my friends in israel

Hey there,

We may be going on vacation for a week -- drop me an email to find out if it's compatible with your dates.

-Idan

Hiya Michael,

Try Dizengoff Suites, on the corner of Gordon and Dizengoff. It's pretty decent and not too much money. If you want to contact me via e-mail, I'd be happy to help you with whatever I'm able to. I'm in Tel Aviv.

zulubaby

First of all, welcome to Israel. And of course, good luck finding what you're looking for. A comment from Pam suggested you contact me for a lead, but unfortunately (from your perspective) I live in Beit Shemesh, which is halfway to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and I don't have much if any knowledge of Tel Aviv lodgings.

If you do end up looking farther afield, there is a Kibbutz right outside Beit Shemesh (Tzora) with guest houses that might be worth a look. But it seems you have an amazingly supporting group of readers and a ton of tips already, so I'm sure someone will help you find something great and in the right location to boot.

Best of luck during your stay, and thanks (by the way) for your link to my Mel Gibson post when you were guest blogging for Glenn. It really made my day.