Reviews
Testimonials
An AWESOME Day
“Thank you so much, Oren!! We had an AWESOME day with you. Everyone loved the tour and learned so much. I’m happy to write you a review!!! If you ever find yourself in San Francisco, or Chicago, don’t hesitate to reach out!! We’ll let any friends or family who travel to Israel know that you are the man!!! ❤️”
June 2022, Jessica & Yoni, San Francisco, USA
An Amazing Trip
“Many of you have asked about our Israel itinerary, so here it is, via Google Maps. As for particular highlights, we would recommend (besides the obvious sites in and around Jerusalem and the Old City):
1) Azura restaurant, in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem;
2) Banias, in the Golan Heights (Temple of Pan and Agrippa’s Palace);
3) Beit Alpha Synagogue (THE MOSAICS)
4) Zippori (MORE MOSAICS OMG)
5) Acre/Akko
6) anything designed by Herod’s architects and engineers
7) our amazing and knowledgeable guide Oren Solell who drove us around for nine days, adjusted the itinerary to add additional sites he knew we would be interested in, put up with Dan’s constant hunt for bourbon and my interjecting random medieval facts into his commentary, and kept a constant (and customized) supply of snacks and beverages in the van.”
May 2022, Lisa & Dan Davis, Boston, USA
Dream Come to Life
“We used Oren’s services for our dream trip to Israel. He made our dream come to life! He had terrific insights at all of our planned stops. Plus he added appealing new places to visit that our research had not uncovered.
As we drove all over the country, he enlightened our conversations with fresh details about the culture, history and modern life in Israel. The best part is Oren made it all simple, engaging and stress free.
I would enthusiastically recommend his services and happily use him again.”
November 2018, Ann Jacobs & Stan Adler, San Francisco, USA
Better Late Than Ever! Right?!
“Dear fellow travelers,
We wouldn’t be so presumptuous to say that this gentleman “found his calling” in platinum tour guiding, or in historic interpretation, or in comedic entertainment, or in intuitive humanity, or in instinctive navigation, or in spiritual leadership, because all of these qualities and more would serve Oren well in any profession, but we ABSOLUTELY say that we’re super-glad we found each other!
Oren quickly (like in 10 seconds) got us past the embarrassing fact that it took us 55 years to make our first and certainly not our last trip to Israel.
“Better late than never! Right?!”
It can’t be our last, because with SO much upside to touring with Oren, here one significant downside: He only does Israel.
It’s an understatement to say that we wouldn’t want to tour Israel without Oren, because he’s spoiled us rotten (not an easy feat), so we don’t want to tour anywhere in the world without him.
Emet on Oren: He pushes or pulls and goes deep or shallow at all of the right times, he arrives early and stays late, and “gets lost” with or without you, sticks to or strays from the plan, as you like.
Little things mean A LOT: Only a mensch of the highest order would mysteriously customize the in-vehicle snack selections, including the basic local beer that we were on-a-mission to find.
Big things matter too! When he’d take us tight to the limit of our lazy sedentary physical capacity, he’d put both palms out and say: “You stay here and I’ll be right back with the car in 10 or 15 minutes!” coordinating many moving parts in the background shouldn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.
From making time to check in by phone and in person with our angles from Mabat, to keeping the secret and making our 30th anniversary vows happen at The Davidson Center (archeological park at the corner of the Western Wall) with the gift from dear friends back home of PERFECTLY CHILLED Veuve Clicquot.
Toda raba sir, for making this note so easy to express, and for making our first homecoming all of that!
With most profound kavod.”
May 2018, Lucy & David, Scarsdale, NY, USA
Don’t See Israel Without Oren
“Hard to know where to begin – except that to say 2 weeks in Israel with Oren was beyond EXCELLENT!
We were 2 couples, new to Israel. Our trip was elevated 10x by having Oren as our extraordinary guide! From the moment he picked us up at our hotel – ALWAYS on time – we knew our time spent with him would make our trip. Our van wax exceptionally clean, stocked with snacks and water, Wi-Fi, a speaker to make his voice hears and very comfortable!
Although we has an itinerary, Oren arranged our time to maximize sites, knew how much to spend staring at a mountain (you what I mean) took care of any missteps – like mix-up in hotel rooms, etc. he knew the best, authentic, clean places to eat, hang out, when to rest, when to move, etc. he SIMPLY TOOK CARE OF US IN EVERY WAY!
He made sure we experienced far more than our itinerary – beyond our dreams. I could go on and on, and knowing Oren, he would love it. But for now, I can say that none of us would return to Israel without Oren by our side! Just contact him – you will have experiences that you have only thought of – he has an extraordinary network.
Oh, and after we had departed, and there was a mix-up in our schedule that had nothing to do with Oren – he took it upon himself to leave his family to take care of us – unbelievable!
We have the highest regard and praise for this man.
Thank you, Oren for showing us your wonderful country – Israel!”
April 2018, Linda & Lary Reib, Sacramento, USA
Me, the K’s and Mabat
“We were fortunate to have Oren Solell as our private guide for eight days of our recent journey through Israel. Oren is very knowledgeable and gave us a thoroughly delightful experience.
Going in, we were somewhat apprehensive about spending over a week in close contact with a stranger. But Oren is a very comfortable guy to be with. He’s neither too intense nor too laid-back, he’s an easy conversationalist, he has a fine sense of humor, and he invariably seems to be in good mood.
He’s also very flexible and very responsive to his guests’ likes and dislikes. He’ll began throwing out ideas for improving the travel experience as soon as he picks up on what his guests do and don’t go for. He’s also very reliable and very attentive to all the details of our itinerary. We’re pretty experienced travelers and are used to handling details on our own, but it was great to have Oren around to handle that stuff and let us relax and enjoy our trip, knowing we were in good hands.
It also became obvious to us that Oren has an impressive set of contacts around Israel. From time to time he set up meeting with some of those contacts, enhancing our trip all the more.
Our comments about Oren wouldn’t be complete without mentioning how he came to be our guide. We planned our trip with David Bellin and Lindy Ganon at Mabat Platinum Touring Company. Mabat fixed us up with Oren. A perfect match all around. Mabat did an outstanding job planning and organizing every last detail of our trip, and personalizing it in ways they understood would appeal to us. And they were always available to us throughout our trip in case we had questions or wanted to make changes along the way. There was never a moment when something didn’t go right.
We would wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend Mabat and Oren to anyone traveling to Israel.”
April 2018, Wayne & Lenore K, Chicago IL, NY, USA
Mother and Daughter
Mail set to the travel agency Mabat Platinum:
“Good morning Esther…
I wanted to take a moment and thank you and David Bellin for a wonderful trip. We worked with you thru our NYC travel agent Anita Brown.
From the moment we landed in Tel Aviv (11/1/17) Mabat took over.
Your expeditors upon arrival and departures were terrific. They were extremely efficient and clearly knew the ropes. During both arrival and departure, there were easily more then 700 people going through security in each direction. My mother and I were beyond thrilled that we did not have be part of the “other” process.
Our trip was further enhanced by our tour guide Oren Solell. Oren was outstanding. Mabat could not have selected a better guide for us.
Oren incredibly knowledgeable and an absolutely lovely person. He easily establishes rapport with his clients and quickly figures out “his audience”. He then adjusts his vast knowledge to his audience. We so enjoyed being with him as we traveled thru Israel. He brought so much to our trip.
I also want to thank you personally. Throughout the trip, I always felt that if there were any problems at all, I could easily reach out to you for answers. You were very available and very “on top” of our itinerary as we moved through Israel.
On the whole, our trip was outstanding and I believe it was because of Mabat! We will be back to Israel and will only work with Mabat. My sister and her family will be coming in the next year and will surely work with Mabat. Please feel free to refer others to me if you need any recommendations.
Thank you again for everything.”
November 2017, Louise Levy, NY, USA
The Fisher Man & Woman
“Dear Oren,
We really enjoyed being with you! You are great at what you do! You gave us a terrific education on places & things we never knew before.
We are serious about opening our homes to you and your family any time!!
We are family now!”
November 2017, Cathy & Stephen Kuper, Huston TX, USA
Mother and Daughter
“Hi Oren,
Thanks so much for your kind note and for a fantastic week. We had a wonderful time and my mother really enjoyed herself. You helped to make this a very special trip for us. I will send you and email when I am home to get connected to your newsletter.
All the best and thanks again!!”
November 2017, Rachel & Mimi Pollock, UK
Wild week
“Oren,
Thank you for making our trip to Israel a truly incredible experience and so “special”.
You are the best (they added 2 hearts, but I couldn’t find a way to put it in… just use your imagination).”
October 2017, Dawn & Barry Lesitner, NY, USA
The Trip of a Lifetime
“We recently got back from 2 week vacation to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and various sites in the north.
We can’t say enough about working with Oren. Our agenda was so well planned (and it even included a few surprises along the way). Oren picked us up every morning at our hotels, was attentive to every single detail and went over and beyond each and every day. (Including a full tour to every Super Pharm in Israel so we can care for our daughter’s being sting).
Oren’s knowledge about all of the sites was perfect. He was able to read our minds and knew it was time to move on or if we needed to spend additional time at any one location.
We miss him dearly and look forward to our next visit to Israel. Next time, Oren, let’s just make it a food and wine tour!!! (this guy knows all the right places to eat!).”
August 2017, Bari Cohen and Jhon Malandruccolo, USA
Maccabia games
“Oren,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was a pleasure riding with you and getting to know you over the past couple of weeks. Your kindness, knowledge, insight and witt were greatly appreciated and truly made our visit all the more pleasurable and meaningful.
We wish you and your family well.
Fondly,
Pam & Bob.”
August 2017, Pam & Bob Schumer, USA
Crazy hot day
“Firstly may I say that over the years on many travels – we have had numerous guides.
OREN was perhaps the finest we ever met. He was friendly, articulate FUNNY, thoughtful and perfect in every way.
Thank you for that.
July 2017, Michael Arnold Vitelli, USA
Father and daughter
The father:
“Thank you for an excellent tour on Tuesday.
We were very pleased that the hotel recommended you.
We wish you good luck and we wll send clients to you if we can.
Yours sincerely, and many thanks from Robin Harries.
The daughter:
“Bethlehem and the Dead Sea all in one day. His car was very clean and comfy. Oren accommodated my needs and questions, as well as my 80 years old father’s. He knew the answers to everything and tailored the day to our requirements perfectly.”
June 2017, Robin Harries, Oxford, UK
2 Great Weeks
“We recently came back from 2 weeks in Israel and had a fantastic time. We were fortunate to have Oren as our guide and often commented that we couldn’t imagine going to Israel without a guide, particularly Oren.
Oren has a bountiful amount of knowledge about the history of Israel, the archeology of Israel, where to eat (fun places that were easy and delicious), how to get around (I would never recommend driving in Israel without help) and where and when to go to museums, important destinations, and fun facts about everything from food, to politics, to entertainment.
We would recommend Oren to anyone going to Israel and we intend to go back and once again hit the road with Oren to all new places perhaps bringing along other family members. Thanks Oren for a great trip!”
May 2017, Amy Marcus. USA
