I'm heading to Egypt in April/May. I wanted to stay somewhere nice for my last two nights. After a little research, I decided on the Mena House Oberoi, having my heart set on a pyramid view room.

My travel agent said she could not book a pyramid view room but could book that class of room, requesting the pyramid view.

I have now discovered that she booked a standard room, none of which have views of the pyramids.

I need advice - are the standard rooms still worth the stay, or should I cancel and book a room at another hotel??

Check out the Le Meridian Pyramids hotel and see if they can guarantee a pyramid view room for some price. If so, I'm sure you will be as happy there as in the Mena House. The Mena House is no great shakes if you ask me unless you are able to pony up the money for a palace room. Those rooms are something else, but the others are nothing special at all...and if they don't have the view, then they are really quite ordinary in a real yuk location.

We stayed at Mena House twice in January - both times with a Pyramid View room in the newer part of the hotel. I'm not sure I agree with Casual Cairo that the only rooms to stay in are the Palace but I certainly agree that without a view it's not the same. We had stunning views from our rooms which added immeasurably to our enjoyment of the pyramids.

My only comment about Le Meridien is the view rooms face a very busy, very noisy main road.

how much time will you be spending at the pyramids, as opposed to the rest of Cairo. I ask because mena House is way out of town, near the pyramids yes, but nothing else. We stayed at the Marriott, very close to everything, and loved it.

Hi momliz - I went round and round on the debate of Mena House versus central Cairo (assuming a pyramid view room at Mena House). In the end I was very happy with my decision because I realized that so many of the Cairo sights require transportation anyway - we were going to be in a vehicle for some length of time every day no matter where we stayed. But to each his (her?) own!

Liz

My husband and I stayed at the Le Meridian Pyramids hotel in June 2006 and they were fantastic. The room was geat and the staff could not do enough for us.

It was really surreal swimming in the beautiful swimming pool looking up and seeing the pyramids.

At that time they would guarantee a pyramid view room. I am more than happy to recommend Le Meridian Pyramids hotel.

Have a wonderful holiday no matter where you end up booking.

We stayed a the Le Meridien last week and although it is a nice hotel, the Mena House belongs to another class.

At the Le Meridien, the Pyramid view is partly obstructed by a construction site which remain there at least for months if not for years. Yes, you can sea the pyramids, but the view is not spectacular because there are other buildings, roads etc. in sight.

BTW, do you really need a room with pyramid view? When you are in the neighborhood, you will see the pyramids all the time: from the terrace, the restaurant, the road, the bus or car etc. From the Mena House, you can even WALK to the pyramids (from the Le Meridien, distance is a little bit to great, but you can take a taxi). You can TOUCH the pyramids, why do you want to see the pyramids when you are lying in bed?

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help!

It is true, I don't need a pyramid view room, being that we will visit the pyramids anyway, however after paying more than I would ordinarily, and for what I thought was going to be a deluxe room, with a pyramid view, I was quite disappointed, and didn't know whether it was still worth the money!

Again, thank you - it makes it so much easier, and less stressful when there are people who know and who can offer advice! Much appreciated!

I was in Egypt last May and spent my last few nights in Cairo at the Mena House Oberoi in a Palace room with a Pyramid view. I really did enjoy this as my last memory of Egypt during this trip as I could see Khufu's pyramid all lit up outside my room's balcony. As someone mentioned the downside to staying at the Mena House on your last day is that it's a long ride to the airport from there and a downtown Cairo hotel would be a little more convenient.

If you cannot get a room with a pyramid view, you will still be able to see them from any of the gardens and if you dine at the Khan el Khalili restaurant you can get a table right by the picture windows overlooking the pyramids. So for me spending my last night in Cairo at the Mena House was well worth the memories I took away with me.

BTW: I used a very nice guided tour including a Nile river cruise with Lady Egypt and also went on about threee tours with Debbie of Casual Cairo. I can highly recommend both of the companies, specially Debbie since she's a first class guide and takes you places the standard tours do not. Hi Debbie !!!

Mena House, definitely-and the area around Mena House-Giza, has a lot more going for it than you might think-plus it's very peaceful-there's nothing like being out in that desert at night, and of course there's the sound and light show-right there, and it's quite exciting to watch. To me the view of the pyramids is paramount, so if you can stay at Mena House, I'd do it-it's the pleasure of DINING and being in the gardens, able to look on the Pyramids at all times that is key.

Wow, I can't believe that pretty soon it will have been a year since my trip to Egypt. But I've been so busy at work that I've had very litle time to put together a trip report and post my photos.

I will try to get this together in the coming weeks since it looks like I'll finally have some spare time. In the mean time you can look at some of my photos of Egypt at my Zenfolio site by using the following link.

http://www.gatorbill.zenfolio.com