Balqa Governorate · Jordan
Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea
Terraced gardens and lagoons on the lowest shoreline on earth, 400 metres below sea level
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The Ishtar is laid out as a tribute to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, cascading down the hillside in terraces of planting, waterways and lagoons until it reaches the Dead Sea shore some 400 metres below sea level. There are nine pools on the way down, several of them infinity-edged and facing the West Bank hills across the water.
The spa is the main event, one of the largest in the region, built around Dead Sea mineral mud and salt treatments alongside Ayurvedic and European therapies. Guests float in the hypersaline water, which is dense enough to make swimming impossible, then rinse off at the private beach facilities.
Four restaurants cover Levantine, Mediterranean and Asian cooking. Amman is around an hour away, the baptism site at Bethany Beyond the Jordan is close, and Mount Nebo and Madaba's Byzantine mosaics make an easy day trip.
At a glance
What to expect
- Private Dead Sea beach
- Nine swimming pools
- Large mineral spa
- Dead Sea mud treatments
- Four restaurants
- Terraced gardens
- Kids club
- Fitness centre
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