Safe and Friendly and other Luxor, Egypt Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

I stayed here the first time I went abroad on my own and felt very safe and comfortable throughout my stay. The hotel is located, like most others in the town, on the banks of the Nile and has lovely gardens leading down to the river. Its most noticeable feature is its swimming pool, which, along with a café and sunbathing area, is located on a barge that floats on the Nile and is connected to the hotel’s gardens by a small footbridge. After a day’s sightseeing on foot, it was very relaxing to be able to have a swim and then sit under the canopy with a book, as the whole thing rocked slightly from end to end, whenever a boat went past.

I had a very comfortable room and, although I was staying here alone, I was allocated a good sized room, with a double bed and sofa, where I found the furniture well maintained and the cleaning thorough. My room had a balcony overlooking the main road and I quite enjoyed sitting there, watching the people and traffic going, by although it could be noisy in the morning and I think most people would prefer a room to the rear, with a view over the gardens and the Nile.

There were plenty of options for places to eat at the hotel, but, as I was on my own, I felt most comfortable eating on the terrace overlooking the gardens and the Nile, which seemed less formal than some of the other choices. I ate there most evenings and found several vegetarian options on the menu, which I enjoyed very much. Their breakfasts were excellent, with such a huge selection of different things to eat that I could never manage to try everything I liked the look of each morning and only once had enough of an appetite to manage lunch!

The reception also had a nice cool seating area for those staying at the hotel with a dispenser serving chilled orange or sweetened karkadeh, making this a nice place to sit and write postcards or meet up with other people staying there. On my return to London, I hunted down a shop that sold dried karkadeh petals and drinking their tea always reminds me of sitting here.


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Address: Khaled Ebn El Waleed st., P.O Box 28, LUXOR 0
Directions: Not far from Luxor Temple.
Website: www.novotel.com