The constant flow of discerning business travellers through Tel Aviv sets the bar for luxury hotels very high. After all, many are regulars at the smart hotels of New York, London and Paris and expect the same kind of standards wherever they go.

This is reflected not only in the level of service, but also in the determination of hotels to constantly refurnish, renovate and redesign.

Most mayors would be embarrassed if a large number of citizens took to the streets, set up camp in one of its main boulevards and demonstrated for weeks on end against the high cost of living.

It is now 18 months since The Israeli Museum at the Yitzchak Rabin Centre opened - the first museum to show the development of the State of Israel as a democracy.

Big changes do not happen overnight, which is why Beit Hatfutsot, formerly known as the Diaspora Museum, is still in the midst of its far reaching, long-term programme of renewal.

By 2014, its core (main) exhibition will have been changed to reflect its new name, the Museum of the Jewish People.

The Tachanah, the revamped old railway station at the southern end of Tel Aviv, is enjoying tremendous success since it reopened two years ago.

It is in a prime spot, between the newly renovated, yuppy area of Neve Zedek, replete with music and cultural centres and the beckoning Mediterranean Sea and just a few minutes' walk from Jaffa with its delightful old world charm.

From 1892-1948, t