Ashkelon is a city in the southern region of the Israeli coast. In the ancient times the city was a Philistine seaport on the Mediterranean Sea, north of Gaza. In its former position the place was an Arab town called, Al Majdal, which was described as a large village in the 16th century. In 1949, a year after the Israelis declared Independence, the city got the new name Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon after, it became Migdal Ashkelon. Only in 1953 the current name, Ashkelon, was adopted. In Ashkelon there is more than 10 hotels & more than 10 guest house. The hotels in Ashkelon are very nice; some of them are next to the beach of the Mediterranean Sea.