King David Hotel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids King David Hotel |
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King David Hotel
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| General information | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′28″N 35°13′21″E / 31.77444°N 35.22250°E |
| Opening | 1931 |
| Owner | Dan Hotels |
| Management | Dan Hotels |
| Design and construction | |
| Developer | Frank Goldsmith |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 237 |
| Number of restaurants | 4 |
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The King David Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, the hotel was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It is located on King David Street in the centre of Jerusalem, overlooking the Old City and Mount Zion.
The hotel, owned and operated by the Dan Hotels group, has traditionally been the chosen venue for hosting heads of state, dignitaries, and other personalities during their visits to Jerusalem. It is also known for having been targeted by a terrorist bombing in 1946 undertaken by the Zionist paramilitary group Irgun, in which 91 people died.
From its earliest days, the King David Hotel hosted royalty: the dowager empress of Persia, queen mother Nazli of Egypt, and King Abdullah I of Jordan stayed at the hotel, and three heads of state forced to flee their countries took up residence there. During the British Mandate, the southern wing of the hotel was turned into a British administrative and military headquarters.
It has accommodated many foreign heads of state and diplomats visiting Israel. Among the hotel's more famous guests were King George V; Jordan’s King Hussein; U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Charles, Prince of Wales; Elizabeth Taylor; Richard Dreyfus; Richard Gere; Madonna; Dr Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton.
Multiple scenes in the 1960 film Exodus were shot at the hotel, both outside and inside, in the main lobby and on the terrace.
Images for kids
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The hotel in 1931
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King David Hotel after bomb attack
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King David Hotel and pool (2012)
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Royal Signals HQ, in June 1946
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King David Hotel at night (2008)
See also
In Spanish: Hotel Rey David para niños
