Brown Beach House, Tel Aviv: Hit the beach in Israel's party city

One minute from the pristine sands, set back one street from the promenade

Geometry lesson: bedroom

Tel Aviv has embraced the boutique hotel trend with gusto, with lovely, stylish offerings such as The Rothschild and The Montefiore scattered through the city centre. One of the first was Brown TLV, which opened in trendy Neve Tzedek in 2010. In July, its owners, the ambitious Leopard group, opened a little sister by the sea.

The Brown Beach House's claim to fame is that it is the first boutique hotel on Tel Aviv's sea front. Certainly it doesn't look a bit like the glistening chain megaliths – the Carlton, Sheraton and Hilton – that line the promenade. Instead, it has a moody black entrance that looks more like that of a nightclub. A giant pink neon flamingo hangs above it, lighting up the cocktail deck set into its façade. Very striking.

Budget flights from London to Tel Aviv take five hours. The hotel is just 25 minutes by taxi from Ben Gurion airport. So it makes the idea of a weekend at the beach (which has 300 sunshine days a year), with a spot of shopping and partying, very feasible indeed.

When I visited last month the hotel was in its “soft opening” stage and was still finding its feet. Eventually, it will serve food all day but for now breakfast is the main event. The service was a little erratic, but when the food finally arrived – fresh, spongy bread and tiny jars filled with tahini and feta, yoghurt and jams, with scrambled eggs and strong Israeli coffee – it was delicious. A sign of better things to come.

There is a small spa offering massages (which start at 320 Israeli shekels, or £53) and there's an outside Jacuzzi but no gym; guests can request a pass to Holmes Place, which is two minutes down the road.

Penthouse hot tub

Location

The Beach House is one minute from the pristine sands, set back one street from the promenade. The buzz of Dizengoff Street and the tempting shops and bars of Shabazi Street are 20 minutes' walk. The Museum of Modern Art and the old port of Jaffa are both around half an hour's walk – or borrow one of the hotel's free bikes. The hotel is also next door to The Imperial, which was recently voted the best cocktail bar in the Middle East. It is tiny, with a vintage vibe and an overwhelming menu of 150 carefully crafted drinks. Bookings are a must, though I preferred the breezy terrace and less fussy menu at the Beach House. Make sure to ask the friendly reception staff for a copy of Telavivian, an excellent up-to-the-minute guide to the coolest bars, restaurants and shops in the city, as recommended by locals.

Comfort

What's black, white and yellow all over? The rooms at Brown Beach House. The carpets are monochrome zig-zags, the sofas sunshine yellow, the woodwork black and the tables cool, creamy marble. Don't be fooled by the name; it's less quirky Suffolk beach hut, more VIP cabana in Ibiza. The feel is glamorous and fun, with oversized black-framed four-poster beds and playful design touches like bedside lights in the shape of golden pineapples.

There are 40 rooms, from small doubles to giant 1,000sq ft family suites with offices and double balconies. The penthouse suite has an outdoor Jacuzzi. My studio had a giant bathroom with a whirlpool bath, a chemist's worth of toiletries and bathrobes, a separate seating area with sofa bed and small balcony, which currently overlooks a handsome 1930s renovation opposite, but the sea is right behind it.

All rooms have free wi-fi and air-conditioning. Bottled water and beach towels are free at reception, which also has an interesting library of design books and an endless supply of chilled cava – the perfect place to kick off a weekend in Israel's party city.

Brown Beach House, 64 Ha'Yarkon Street, Tel Aviv, Israel (00 972 3 760 5000; brownhotels.com/beach)

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Doubles from US$225 (£148), B&B.