Israel's hotel offerings haven't always kept pace with the more subtle, upscale offerings befitting the global travel circuit, but that's now changing in striking style with the opening of The Jaffa Tel Aviv, in the historic 4,000-year-old port city of Jaffa. The new benchmark is evident from your first step into the minimalist lobby, with sofas and chairs by Shiro Kuramata, a Damien Hirst painting and John Pawson's backgammon tables, all in the presence of a fragment of wall built by 13th-century crusaders, which was discovered during excavation on the more than decade-long project.

If the 120-guest room, 32-residence property – comprising a 19th-century French hospital and a new building at 2 Louis Pasteur Street – feels somewhat game-changing, then it follows the provenance of Aby Rosen, the well-known art collector and owner of New York-based property developer RFR Holding. Rosen has snapped up a prolific inventory of visible real estate and hospitality projects, including the Seagram Building, Lever House, The Gramercy Park Hotel and 11 Howard in New York, along with W South Beach in Miami – where his parties during the annual Art Basel extravaganza are legendary.

German-born and US-raised Rosen, whose connection to Israel goes back to his early days and family origins, considers this undertaking one of his most poignant. "The Jaffa has been my longest and most personal project to date," he says. "From the outset, I saw this as a unique opportunity to develop a truly remarkable hotel with residences in the heart of old Jaffa."

For those unfamiliar, Jaffa is said to be the longest continuously inhabited city in the world. It was the launching point of the biblical Jonah-and-the-whale story and has become one of the coolest neighbourhoods in Tel Aviv, buzzing with ultra-hipsters in art studios and gilted gentrification. The Jaffa's apartments, with the largest listed at $60 million, should certainly appeal to the latter.

Rosen turned to Jaffa-born architect Ramy Gill and British designer John Pawson, with whom he worked on parts of The Gramercy in New York. "I know and love John's approach to design, especially with historical projects," says Rosen, who tasked Pawson with bringing his minimalist interpretation to the classical monastery building. And he's thrilled with the outcome. "His sensitivity manifests itself in the thoughtful design, introducing new life and purpose to the building. I'm sure The Jaffa will quickly become a Tel Aviv icon," says Rosen.

There's plenty to love now. Start with the wonderfully Instagrammable cocktail lounge inside the hospital's former chapel, with its exposed Corinthian columns, powder-blue vaulted ceiling, original stained-glass windows and marbled floors, which anchor three-legged Botolo chairs by Italian architect Cini Boeri. (Now 92, Boeri has just been tapped by Miuccia Prada to design a bag, in tandem with two other female architects, for Prada's spring/summer 2019 women's fashion collection). A bar takes the place of an altar in this majestic parlour of desanctified liquefaction, appropriately named Chapel.

Major Food Group, the entity behind Carbone and Sadelle's in Manhattan, has also launched two destination restaurants: Don Camillo, a New York-style Italian joint with a Mediterranean twist, in collaboration with local chef Roi Antebi, serving dishes such as yellowtail Jaffa, tortellini al ragu and spicy pollo diavolo; and Golda’s Deli, a delicatessen serving American Jewish classics such as bagels and lox, tuna melts and double-decker sandwiches.

For those more physically than gustatorially motivated, there’s also a sumptuous pool, a 24/7 fitness centre and the L Raphael Spa. All of which leaves not just you in great shape, but with the immediate future for Israel’s luxury hospitality industry taking on a leaner, fitter, more sensitive and more thoughtful silhouette.