Setai Luxury Hotel, Sea of Galilee

Brief: Design all elements of the hotel including guest villas, spa, restaurant, reception and other public spaces to create a unique luxury experience reflecting the hotel’s unique location.
Client: Setai

The Setai, Sea of Galilee is one of a limited number of luxury properties that line the shores of the Galilee lake.

Guests at this stunning low rise luxury hotel are immersed in the natural beauty of the surrounding local vegetation as well as enjoying the views of the northern Israel Galil and Golan mountains.

The hotel is a complex of pavilions with the public buildings constructed using an unusual column and beam structure with glass enclosures that blend the indoors and outdoors. The roofs are also separated on these structures, giving the buildings a light feel that don’t impose themselves on the surrounding nature. This approach helps guests relax and feel part of nature whether in the reception, rejuvenating spa, restaurant, lounge or other social areas.

As part of the Setai group, a sense of luxury and personal space runs through each of the 158 large suites and villas that have direct access to their own individual infinity pools or hot tubs

A combination of light and dark can be felt through the whole complex. The dark scheme on the ground floor, using local materials such as black granite and walnut, calms guests stepping in  from the harsh Mediterranean sunlight on arrival. The scheme upstairs, using bleached white oak and lighter marble, is all in light tones lifting both the energy and mindset of guests.

The public areas of the hotel include a large reception, restaurant, lounge building, spa and wellbeing complex with 14 treatment rooms, outdoor bars and pools.

The arrival experience at the Setai is akin to walking into an oasis. The elegant reception’s water feature calms and cools and the decorative partitions that imitate eucalyptus trees guide guest’s eyes towards the lake views. 

The restaurant is relaxed and restrained adding to the sense of calm and escape. Wooden louver dividers provide a sense of quality and refinement. The large central table then highlights the richness of the local Middle Eastern cuisine through various decorative elements from the region.

The spa’s 14 unique treatment rooms are arranged in a circular building with a central skylight and pendant lighting that penetrate to the main central core providing a contrast of light and dark, peace and wellbeing.

Photography – Assaf Pinchuk