The Jaffa

The Jaffa is a 120-room Luxury Collection hotel in Tel Aviv's ancient port neighborhood — housed in a 19th-century complex that was originally a French hospital and convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The restoration took eleven years. Ten workers spent two years alone removing 1970s paint from the walls with surgical knives to uncover the original frescoes beneath. The architecture was designed by John Pawson and Israeli architect Rami Gil: a historic wing with arched windows and vaulted ceilings in dialogue with a minimalist contemporary addition, across a colonnaded central courtyard where a 700-year-old Crusader wall surfaces through the lobby floor. The Vatican desanctified the chapel so it could serve as a bar and event venue — its original stained-glass windows restored by specialists using crystal glass. There are very few hotels in the world where the building itself is the primary experience. The Jaffa is one of them.

Considered created the full brand identity for The Jaffa — naming, visual identity, brand storytelling, collateral, guest touchpoints, illustration, photography, digital design, and publication design. The creative challenge was calibrated precisely to the property: to build a brand equal to a hotel where the architecture has already done the heavy lifting. A property with frescoed ceilings, a Crusader wall in the lobby, and a desanctified Vatican chapel does not need a brand that tries to add character. It needs one that honors what is already there and communicates it with corresponding depth and care.

The Jaffa has been recognized by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the best hotels in the Middle East. The brand was designed to hold that standard across every guest-facing touchpoint — from arrival to departure, from the key card sleeve to the publication on the bedside table.