joandg

We are hoping to visit Luxor in February and are trying to decide which hotel to stay in. Any help and advice about the best 5 star hotels would be much appreciated.

Which tours/visits should we take?

Thanks

sf7307

Do not miss Queen Hapsepshut's temple, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Karnak Temple and Temple of Luxor.

Regarding hotels, we stayed in August at the Steigenberger Palace. I think they consider it a 5-star hotel. I would give it 4stars (comparable to a Marriott, although the furnishings were a little worn around the edges). The pool area is very nice (we spent a whole day of downtime at the pool), the public areas are very attractive. The room is nice sized, good bathroom, nice breakfast buffet. The hotel has a good gym. The f, good gym. The food at the restaurant by the pool is good and not too terribly expensive, considering it is "pool service". I know a lot of people like the Maritime Jolie, but it's not "in town" and we prefer to be somewhere where we can walk to restaurants (we don't usually eat at the hotel except for breakfast it it's included, and lunch at the pool).

There are some decent restaurants in town -- Dean's is one. I'll have to look back at my notes re any others, although I would avoid the King's Arms pub -- my son was served chicken tenders where the chicken was raw (not undercooked....raw).

joandg

Thanks for your suggestions for side trips.

Friends have recommended the Maritime Jolie,but it does appear to be a bit out of town and like you we prefer to be able to walk to restaurants etc in the evening so the Steigenberger Palace is our first choice at the moment. Now have to see if we can get a good rate and a cheap flight from the UK We prefer to travel independently but a package may be cheaper.

The chicken sounds horrible. I hope your son was not ill!

sf7307

joandg, the first thing out of his mouth was "salmonella", but fortunately he didn't get sick!

Yelpir

I have just returned from Egypt and while in Luxor I stayed in the Sonesta Saint George Hotel. It is 5* and I have no complaints about the room, the service or the food. It is walking distance to the Luxor Temple.

I can thoroughly recommend the hot air balloon ride. It was the highlight of my trip.

Most of the hotels have a 'rack rate'. As an independent traveller you are likely to pay much closer to this rate than you would as part of a tour. Most of the Egyptian hotels are geared up for tours and they get the best rates.

joandg

Yes the packages look quite a lot cheaper. Did you book the balloon ride in advance? If so which company did you use? Can you recommend any of the tour firms?

Thanks for your help with this

Casual_Cairo

My recommended Balloon Company is Hod Hod Solimon. I have been here for nearly 11 years watching the news, watching them fly when I am in Luxor, and learning more about them all the time. Hod Hod is the safest and best company for my money. They have foreign ownership and a mentality that understands safety is first and foremost. They understand flying and have a very good safety record to date.

I will only fly with Hod HOd for what it is worth.

joandg

Thanks for your recommendation. I've looked them up but don't seem to be able to find a price. I had hoped to book the ride in advance.

Have booked the holiday today, a package was much cheaper. We will be staying at the Nile Palace and have paid extra for a side Nile view,hope it will be worth it!

Nearly finnished researching this holiday so on to the next,Canada later in the year.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my queries. I will write a trip report on my return.

sf7307

We didn't have a Nile view at the Nile Palace, but we did have one at our hotel in Aswan, and it WAS worth it!!

Rhardy5554

The Steigenberger is lovely! Good rooms and nice views. REstaurants, however, are not good with minimal food and lousy service. Of the group, I would suggest the Lebanese. Do go to Luxor temple -especially at dusk, and the Luxor museum.

You should take a falucca (sp?) ride.

Casual_Cairo

Regarding food - Luxor (IMHO) has never been known for it's fabulous food. If you are British though, the Brits are starting to take over down there, not unlike the south coast of Spain, so there is no lack of Mushy Peas, Bubbles and Squeek and the other oddities you all eat. Hmm Hmm Good! Right?

sf7307

I don't think anyplace in Egypt is known for great food

That said, we had some quite decent and not expensive (not great, but quite good) meals in Luxor -- Dean's (the green curry chicken is excellent) (about a block from the Steigenberger), and an Indian restaurant with Bombay in the name.

Casual_Cairo

There is fantastic food in Egypt, but you have to be willing to get out of the hotels and 5* places to find it. If you stick with your average tours, you will have bland, non-descript buffet food which isn't very tasty.

Some of the best food is the seafood, but the bread is hard to beat, the tahina, babaganoush, yougurt and hummus is wonderful if you get a good restaurant making it for you. Granted, every receipe is different and it can be pretty watery or nasty if the restaurant isn't very good.

sf7307

CC, We never eat at 5* restaurants (especially when we're traveling with our kids and their friends LOL!) nor do we eat in hotels except for included breakfasts. We did have fantastic felafel in Cairo (at the Felfela (sp?) stand next to Le Meridien Pyramids). BUT, when I posted prior to my trip asking for restaurant recommendations, I got NONE, not even from you, sunshine and grcxx!

Casual_Cairo

You did choose the exact right restaurant for out that way - the Take Away stand is one of my favorites for cheap good eats. The Falafel, Foul and Aubergine sandwiches they make there are gorgeous. They make a pretty mean Swarma too if you want meat.

Don't you agree that place has "great food"?

sf7307

We did have the schwarma, and a few other things (we ate there at least 3 times!). Yes, I do agree it's great food (and incredibly inexpensive, too)

joandg

Well I was going to ask for restaurant recommendations.......

LAleslie

How about the Sheraton? Anyone tried that? It's on the overnight tour (from a cruise ship docked at Safaga) offered by Memphis Tours for $359 for two people. The Lady Egypt quote is $295 PER PERSON but uses the Steinberger.

sf7307

A friend stayed at the Sheraton and thought it was awful (for example, there was a mattress on the floor in their room). She's pretty "high maintenance" though (she LOVED the Four Seasons Cairo LOL!). We stayed at the Steigenberger and thought it was very nice. We also went with Lady Egypt although we were on a private tour so we selected our own hotels. I wouldn't spend MORE for the Sheraton.

LAleslie

Thanks sf. Memphis/Sheraton is actually much less: $359 for 2 on a private tour (Lady Egypt quotes $590 for two). TripAdvisor has some pretty scathing reviews of the Sheraton, but I gather it is being refurbished as we speak, and it's apparently in a quieter location. I'd rather make my own hotel and temple tour arrangements, but we need someone to get us to and from the dock at Safaga, and booking a private overnight tour seems the only way to do this. I'm also trying to avoid the cruise line tour buses.