Cairo Hotel Tips by emoja

The Nile Hilton is supremely located - directly across the street from the Nile and right adjacent to the Egyptian Museum. The hotel contains two good restaurants that we visited - one has a buffet all day, and the other one is outside where you can order a sheesha pipe along with your meal. There is also a nightclub at the hotel, Latex, but we did not go in.

Inside the hotel and also surrounding it are little shops for purchasing souvenirs and clothing. There is an American Express office located in the building, a jazz nightclub and a coffeeshop. An ATM is on the ground floor.

The concierge desk was amazing - they helped us with everything from purchasing tours to retrieving feminine items from a pharmacy. We stayed in the Executive Suites on the 12th floor, I'm not sure if the cost was any different for that room versus another but we had almost 24-hour access to the Executive Lounge for free drinks (including free cocktails from 6 to 9 pm) and snacks.

You have the choice of a Nile-side view from your room or a city-side view (you should request one or the other when you check in, otherwise they will just give you whatever). The Nile side looked very pretty from the Executive Lounge, but our room was on the city side and the view was absolutely outstanding. Notice the profusion of billboards facing the hotel and the lack of billboards elsewhere around the city. Interesting!

We paid $155 US per night for a suite. Half-day tours ran around $30 US per person, includes a guide and transportation around the city. I'd recommend the Islamic Cairo and Khan El Kalili half-day tour, but you should find another way to get to the Giza Pyramids - we were only there for a few minutes so the whole experience was somewhat anticlimatic.

Unique Qualities: The upscale hotels have a metal detector at the door with police guarding it, but for the most part we didn't have to worry about it. They let us breeze through.

The hotel is adjacent to Tahrir Square, which is basically just a roundabout with some shops lining one side of it. There is a Hardees located along this side with a good view of the square from the second floor. Prices run around 40LE for a meal at Hardees, whereas the hotel restaurant will run around 70-80LE for a meal.

Our guidebook said that the Nile Hilton is one of the few places where women can smoke sheesha without attracting stares. I smoked here, along with plenty of other women. I did not see women smoking anywhere else in the city except at touristy spots.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: Tahrir Square, Cairo
Directions: Along the Nile, adjacent to Egyptian Antiquities Museum

We saw two different rooms before checking in and both of them frightened me. The only reason we stayed there is because it was 3 AM and we didn't want to go hunting for another hotel at that late hour.

The rooms are very dark and dusty-looking, there's nothing comfortable about them at all. There were no curtains on the tub and a toilet that clanked all night and made it hard to sleep. The beds were incredibly hard and, worst of all, the walls were covered in dirty marks, as if someone had been smearing colored stuff all over them. Walking up to the hotel is a scary experience as well - let's just say that the whole place leaves a bad impression on a first time visitor to Cairo.

The hotel will charge you for airport pickup (be sure to have correct change because they will NOT give you change... we ended up paying 200 LE on a 116LE ride because the driver swore he didn't have change). The only saving grace for these rooms is the balcony overlooking the Nile and Egyptian nightlife at the hotel next door; that was very nice. Pictures to come.

The hotel is in a decent enough location - right down the street from the Nile Hilton where we checked in the following morning.

Unique Qualities: Very unique - the dirtiest hotel I've ever seen in my life.

For a not-so-dirty hotel, check out the Victoria near Ramses Train Station. It's $43 US per night but well worth it.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$20  » Currency Converter
Website: www.gardencityhouse.com