HollieB

We're using Egypt Highlights for our trip to Egypt. We want to stay in the Mena House Hotel while in Cairo, but the guide with Egypt Highlights said that he doesn't recommend it and has had a lot of complaints. Has anybody here stayed there before? Any feedback would be appreciated.

The guide recommended Le Meridien Pyramids or Cairo Marriott Tower and Casino. I looked at their websites and I am not interested in staying at either. The Marriott is out of the question for me, I want to stay in Giza. And, the photos of guest rooms on Le Meridien website are of really ugly rooms. Has anybody here stayed at Le Meridien Pyramids? Are the rooms as bland and generic as the photos on the website appear?

Also, does anybody have any suggestions for hotels in Aswan? We'll be staying there just one night, but we'd like to stay in a nice hotel. I'm a little nervous about accepting the guides recommendations since I didn't like the first two hotels he suggested.

Thanks for your help!

thit_cho

I have stayed at Mena House, and while the location is great, my room, in the new wing, was like a room in a Holiday Inn. But frankly, maybe my standards are different, but my main concerns were cleanliness and location, as on vacation, I don't tend to spend a lot of non-sleeping time in the room. You can walk to the pyramids from Mena House.

Its just a hotel -- its fine.

gail

We stayed there 4 years ago. Had room with balcony overlooking pyramids. Furniture was big, heavy wood - seemed to fit setting. Gardens are beautiful. Our room did not feel like Holiday Inn at all. At end of trip stayed at a Sheraton in Cairo - now that did feel like any generic hotel.

The main issue with Mena House is that it is in Giza, not downtown Cairo, and can take about 20 minutes to get into Cairo. Its proximity to Pyramids is its selling point - for us, staying one end of trip at Mena House and the other right in Cairo worked well.

HollieB

I intend to stay in the Palace or Royal wing. I've heard that the garden wing isn't that good.

The guest rooms of the two hotels suggested by the travel agent could have been in Cleveland, OH and not Cairo, Egypt. They were bland and generic.

The photos that I've seen of rooms in the Palace and Royal wings at Mena House were beautiful. I just wondered if there were some other problems that would make it an unpleasant experience.

I'm aware of the distance from downtown Cairo, but I want to stay there primarly for the Pyramids. We're only going to spend one day in Cairo itself and the rest of the time will be spent in Giza before heading off to southern Egypt, so the commute into Cairo for one day isn't that much of a concern.

So does anybody have any recomendations for hotels in Aswan?

sunshine007

By all means stay at Mena House in a pyramids view room. There is nothing like going to bed with the pyramids in sight. It wasn't the most up to date or fashionable room, but then there is nothing like waking up with the pyramids in sight from your bed.

Just in case I didn't make it clear -- you can go to bed and awaken with a view of the pyramids -- what does it matter if the furniture is a little old or Holiday Inn-ish?

In Aswan stay at the Old Cataract with the Nile view. It has a lot of atmosphere -- you can see it in the movie "Death on the Nile." If I had to pick one afternoon of my life to relive, it would be sitting on the Terrace overlooking the Nile, with feluccas sailing back and forth, an island with ruins and the mausoleum for the Aga Khan in the distance, drinking gin & tonics & eating delicious food of the freshest, tastiest vegetables & fruits. The hotel is a little genteely shabby, but it's part of the charm.

I told my travel agent that I wanted to stay in rooms that looked like Egypt and not the Atlanta Airport Hilton.

HollieB

Thanks! You had me at "Death on the Nile." lol

rfb

The Old Cataract in Aswan does have a lot of atmosphere; unfortunately, it has wretched service. They will meet you at the airport and treat you like royalty bringing you to the hotel but reception seems to bend over backwards to be unhelpful and food service doesn't exist. The rooms at the ends of the wings are outstanding; most of the other rooms, while very nice are very small, almost reminiscent of what you find in Paris hotels. I found the restaurant very disappointing as well; however, a glass of wine on the terrace overlooking the Nile is something you'll never forget. If you stay here with a Nile view room, do not leave the windows open in the early evening or you risk being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

The Basma hotel, up the hill from the Old Cataract, is very nice. It is a relatively new one with modern decor as opposed to the Old Cataract; however, it has now become my hotel of choice because the staff is exceptionally helpful and the food is good (this being a relative term in describing food in Egypt).