Tuscany in the desert: 14 cabins between a vineyard and an orchard, a family winery, Café Mona and desert bathing pools. Adults only (16+).
At the end of a 700-metre dirt road between rows of vines, five minutes south of Sde Boker, is Carmey Avdat: a single-family farm founded in 1998 by Hannah and Eyal Izrael as part of the Negev Highlands “Wine Route”, on the remains of a 1,500-year-old farm. The vineyard was planted in 1999 on the ancient terraces, the family winery followed, and the farm has grown slowly since: cabins built without an architect from years of living in the desert, orchards of fig, pomegranate, date and olive, bathing pools modelled on the desert’s natural rock pools, and a coffee house on the farm square.
Just 14 units, adults only (16+): eight artist studios in the Artists’ Village, two Bustan cabins among the fruit trees and four secluded cabins on the hillside, each with its own jacuzzi, bathing pool and campfire spot. Every unit comes with an Israeli breakfast and a carafe of house wine, and none has a television: just you, the vineyard and the desert.
All around is the Negev Highlands: the Nabataean city of Avdat five minutes away by car, Ein Avdat and Ben-Gurion’s hut ten minutes, the Ramon Crater twenty, and the farm’s own marked trails with ancient rock drawings and sunset lookouts. At night the path lighting is designed not to get in the way of the stars.
In short: Carmey Avdat is a single-family farm in the Negev Highlands, about a kilometre south of Tziporim Junction on Route 40 and five minutes by car from Sde Boker, founded in 1998 by Hannah and Eyal Izrael as part of the “Wine Route” project. The vineyard was planted in 1999 on 1,500-year-old farming terraces, and the family winery makes about 5,000 bottles a year from six grape varieties. There are 14 units, adults only (16+): eight artist studios for couples in the Artists’ Village next to the winery and the coffee house (shared outdoor kitchen, shared bathing pool in summer), two Bustan cabins for couples among the fruit trees with their own jacuzzi and bathing pool, two secluded cabins for couples (Karkom and Sumak) and two secluded cabins for up to five guests (Levona and Ketma) on the hillside, with an equipped kitchen, pellet stove, jacuzzi, bathing pool, hammock and campfire corner. Every unit includes an Israeli breakfast and a carafe of house wine, air conditioning and Wi-Fi, and none has a television. On the farm: a barrel-shaped wooden sauna, Café Mona (Monday to Saturday, 9:00-16:00), a wine cellar with a daily tour at 14:00 and a tasting of five wines, marked trails with an audio tour, organic orchards, parking and two slow charging points for electric cars. Check-in 15:00 to 20:00, check-out by 11:00; no pets and no smoking in the cabins; the cabins are not wheelchair accessible (the public areas, the coffee house and the winery are), and the secluded cabins are an 80 to 200 metre walk from the car park. Nearby: the Nabataean city of Avdat 5 minutes by car, Ein Avdat and Ben-Gurion’s hut 10 minutes, the Ramon Crater 20 minutes.
Why book through Unique Hotels: official-site rates, booking directly with the farm, payment on arrival and a flexible cancellation policy. Unique Cash vouchers can be redeemed here. Current offers · more boutique hotels in the south · adults-only hotels. Updated: November 2026.
A family boutique winery in the middle of the vineyard: Eyal Izrael makes about 5,000 bottles a year from six varieties grown on the Nabataean terraces, among them Barbera (the only vineyard growing it in the Negev), Viognier and a port-style dessert wine aged in barrels under the desert sun. Guests are invited to the daily winery tour (14:00), to a tasting of five wines in the wine cellar, to the archaeological display of clay amphorae from ancient Avdat, and, between mid-July and mid-September, to the harvest itself.
Café Mona and a sunset picnic basket: the coffee house on the farm square, the “piazza”, serves breakfast, quiches, pizzas, cheese platters and the winery’s wines, with Wi-Fi and charging points for anyone mixing in some work. For sunset, order a picnic basket with three wines, cheeses and salads and carry it to the lookout. Guests of the Artists’ Village have breakfast here; in the secluded cabins it is brought to the cabin.
An ecological farm with a social side: the first winery to run on solar power, cabin greywater recycled to irrigate the orchards, the bathing pools’ water used to flood the trees as in ancient farming, and cabin furniture made from retired wine barrels.
Couples after a real break in the desert, with good wine, a jacuzzi facing the view and no screens. Adults only (16+); the Levona and Ketma cabins also suit a group of up to five.
Eight studios for couples inspired by the winery’s barrels, next to the farm square, the winery and the coffee house, on the slope overlooking the vineyard and the Zin Valley. Breakfast is served at Café Mona.
Facilities: double bed, bar table with a fridge, coffee machine and kettle (no kitchenette), shower room and toilet, pellet stove for winter, air conditioning and ceiling fan, Wi-Fi, private terrace with seating; a shared outdoor kitchen with a grill, campfire corner and pizza oven, a shared bathing pool in summer and the farm’s barrel sauna.
Two adjoining cabins for couples, each with its own entrance, inside the farm’s orchard among the fruit trees beside the vineyard: the privacy of greenery and birdsong, without a view from the terrace. Parking is next to the cabin.
Facilities: one open space with a double bed, equipped kitchen (fridge, hob, microwave, cookware), espresso machine, dining corner, toilet and shower, air conditioning and heating, Wi-Fi; a private terrace with a jacuzzi for two, a bathing pool beside the terrace, seating, hammock, grill and campfire spot.
Karkom and Sumak: cabins for couples on the farm’s hillside, set apart from each other, with a floor of river pebbles gathered in Nahal Nitzana and a wooden terrace facing the vineyard and the expanse of the Zin Valley. Breakfast is served in the cabin. An 80 to 200 metre walk from the car park; the staff help with the luggage.
Facilities: double bed and seating area, dining corner and equipped kitchen (fridge, electric hob, microwave, cookware), espresso machine, pellet stove for winter and air conditioning, Wi-Fi; a mosaic-tiled soaking tub in Karkom and a shower room in Sumak; on the terrace a jacuzzi and a private bathing pool (in season), hammock, grill and campfire corner.
Levona and Ketma: spacious cabins on the hillside for a couple or a group of up to five adults (16+), with a separate bedroom and a central space with three single beds. Breakfast is served in the cabin. An 80 to 200 metre walk from the car park.
Facilities: double bed and three single beds, dining corner and equipped kitchen (fridge, electric hob, microwave, cookware), espresso machine, handmade mosaic-tiled bathtub, river-pebble floor, pellet stove and air conditioning, bathrobes, Wi-Fi; a large shaded terrace with a jacuzzi heated all year for three, dining area, hammock, grill and seating around a campfire; a bathing pool shared by the two cabins.
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5 on Google · 1,002 reviews (November 2026) · All reviews
★★★★★
“A place I have stayed at twice, in two completely different seasons. We took the same cabin (Sumak) both times. Everything was perfect: an amazing, generous breakfast every time, a good, quiet desert atmosphere, and service above and beyond.”
Amit · Google review, translated · September 2026
★★★★★
“We came as a couple for our 25th wedding anniversary. From the first moment you understand you have arrived somewhere magical and different: the drive in along the vineyards, the warm hospitality that takes care of every detail.”
Arik · Google review, translated · August 2026
★★★★★
“We stayed in the “Levona” cabin, which was simple and inviting, and the highlight of the holiday was without doubt sitting in the jacuzzi at night under the moonlight. The sunsets there are simply perfect. If you are looking for a slightly different holiday and a place with a team that really looks after you, this is it.”
Marcos · Google review, translated · September 2026
In the Negev Highlands, on Route 40, about a kilometre south of Tziporim Junction (the sign to the Shanti BaMidbar youth village and the Ramon army camp) and five minutes by car from Sde Boker and Midreshet Ben-Gurion. Turn right off the road onto the dirt track, immediately right again through the farm gate, and drive 700 metres along the vineyard to the car park. In Waze search for “Carmey Avdat”. Phone: +972-52-270-5328 or +972-8-653-5177.
It is a real single-family farm, not a hotel: Hannah and Eyal Izrael founded it in 1998 on the remains of a 1,500-year-old farm, planted a vineyard on the ancient terraces and opened a family winery that makes about 5,000 bottles a year, among them Barbera (the only vineyard growing it in the Negev) and a port-style dessert wine. Just 14 units, adults only (16+), no televisions, with jacuzzis and bathing pools modelled on the desert’s rock pools, a barrel sauna, Café Mona on the farm square and trails with ancient rock drawings and sunset lookouts. “Tuscany in the desert”, as guests say when they drive in between the vines.
Four types. The Artists’ Village: eight studios for couples inspired by wine barrels, next to the winery and the coffee house, with a bar table, fridge and coffee machine (no kitchenette), pellet stove, air conditioning and a terrace; a shared outdoor kitchen and a shared bathing pool in summer, with breakfast at Café Mona. The Bustan cabins (Marva and Kerem): two adjoining cabins for couples among the fruit trees, each with an equipped kitchen, a jacuzzi for two on the terrace and a bathing pool, without a view from the terrace. Secluded cabins for couples (Karkom and Sumak): on the hillside facing the vineyard and the Zin Valley, with an equipped kitchen, pellet stove, jacuzzi and private bathing pool. Secluded cabins for up to five (Levona and Ketma): a double bedroom and a central space with three single beds, a mosaic bathtub, a jacuzzi heated all year and a bathing pool shared by the two. In all the secluded cabins breakfast is served in the cabin.
Yes. Every unit includes an Israeli breakfast (salads, cheeses, spreads, breads baked on site, eggs of your choice, yogurt, granola, fruit, cookies, juice and a hot drink) and a carafe of house wine. Guests of the Artists’ Village eat at Café Mona; in the secluded cabins breakfast is brought to the cabin. Café Mona is open until 16:00 (Monday to Saturday), so for dinner you cook in the cabin kitchen or the Artists’ Village outdoor kitchen, light the grill, or order a picnic basket with three wines, cheeses and salads in advance and take it to the sunset lookout.
There is no swimming pool and no spa. There are desert bathing pools built like the natural rock pools of the Negev, for a dip in the warm season: private in the Bustan cabins and the secluded cabins for couples, shared between Levona and Ketma, and a shared splash-pool area for the Artists’ Village. The Bustan cabins and all four secluded cabins have a jacuzzi on the terrace (heated all year in Levona and Ketma). All guests can use the barrel-shaped wooden sauna in the orchard, self-operated (switch it on 40 minutes ahead).
Check-in every day from 15:00 and no later than 20:00, check-out by 11:00. Cancellation is free up to 7 days before arrival for one cabin, 14 days for two cabins, 21 days for three and 30 days for four or more; after that the full price is charged, and date changes follow the same terms. The credit card guarantees the booking and is not charged before arrival.
No. The farm hosts adults only (16+), and animals are not allowed on the farm or in the coffee house. A group of three to five adults will fit in the Levona and Ketma cabins. Good to know: the cabins are not wheelchair accessible and are reached on foot along a well-lit path (80 to 200 metres from the car park for the secluded cabins, with the staff helping with luggage).
On the farm: the winery tour at 14:00 every day, a tasting of five wines in the wine cellar with its display of clay amphorae from Avdat, walks along the farm’s trails with the illustrated map and Eyal’s audio tour, fruit picking in the orchards in season, and in midsummer the grape harvest. A 4.5-kilometre trail leads from the farm to a rock-art park and a Bedouin tent, and a short climb to a lookout. Nearby: the Nabataean city of Avdat (5 minutes by car), Ein Avdat with its spring, waterfall and ibex, and Ben-Gurion’s hut (10 minutes), the Ramon Crater and the visitors’ centre in Mitzpe Ramon (20 minutes). At night, starry skies without light pollution.
According to the farm’s website its wines are not kosher-certified; guests who need kosher wine receive one bottle of kosher wine at the tasting. The website describes the group meals at Café Mona as kosher; for a kosher certificate for the coffee house and breakfast, check directly with the farm.
Prices depend on the cabin type, the dates (midweek or weekend) and the number of nights; weekend bookings are for at least two nights. The exact price for your dates is shown in the booking engine: click “Book now”, choose your dates and cabin, and complete the booking directly with the farm. Booking through Unique Hotels gives you the official-site rate, and Unique Cash vouchers can be redeemed here. All current offers.
Carmey Avdat Farm, Route 40 near Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Negev Highlands
