After about a year and eight months – on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, a farewell meeting was held between the last evacuees from the north of the country and the management of the Dan Panorama Haifa Hotel and the staff. The excitement was great, and the appreciation – from the bottom of our hearts.
The farewell ceremony was particularly moving: the last evacuees from Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi and Metula, who left their homes due to the security situation in the north, said goodbye to the hotel that had become a second home for them for a year and eight months.
Farewell event at the Dan Panorama Hotel ►Watch
The evacuees expressed their gratitude to the hotel management and the entire staff for the personal support, dedicated service, and human warmth they provided throughout the entire period - from the first weeks of uncertainty to the final moments.
Orit Katz, resident of Metula, excitedly recounted the concerns that enveloped them when they left their home – a familiar, comfortable, and safe place – and arrived at strange hotel rooms: “But from the very beginning, we met an amazing team, with a big heart. We were treated like family, not guests.”
Her husband, Kobi Katz, joined her words and expressed personal gratitude to each and every one of the employees, from the CEO to the last of the maintenance and cleaning workers, the maids, the security personnel, the waiters and the many volunteers who accompanied the elderly community: “This hotel has become a home. An alternative, real, warm home. Not just for us – but for hundreds of evacuees who stayed here throughout the entire period,” he said with teary eyes.
The atmosphere in the hall was uplifting and emotional. Both parties, the evacuees and the hotel staff, did not hide the excitement and the deep personal connections that had been forged throughout the period.
Orit Katz gave Ms. Berta Yogev, General Manager of the Dan Panorama Haifa Hotel, a moving picture with a personal dedication on behalf of the evacuees, as a token of gratitude for the support and human warmth.
Ms. Yogev, CEO of the Dan Hotel, said: “Our door is always open to you. (And she added jokingly) Maybe not for a night's stay, we've had enough here, but always for a warm and loving visit.”
Thus ended an unusual chapter for him, in which a hotel became a home, a team became a family, and life, despite everything, managed to find moments of hope, comfort, and warm and genuine human connection.
Beautiful and important article!!!