Mena House Oberoi and other Cairo, Egypt Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

After reading so many positive reviews of the Mena House we were very disappointed on the two occassions we stayed there recently. ,Reserving and prepaying for a 'pyramid view room' is no guarantee that you will actually be given one as we found out. We were assigned to the garden section which is quite a hike from the 'palace' section, on both of our recent visits. This section is unimpressive and other the constant 24hr roar of Cairo traffic coming from the adjacent street, it felt much like any western hotel/motel in need of some refurbishment. The staff were nice enough, other than the rather arrogant and indifferent man who checked us in on our return visit. On that occasion we were taken to three different rooms before settling on a 'satisfactory ' double 'no smoking' garden view ,away from street noise. It turned out that for two days, owing to Cairo smog, the pyramids couldn't be seen from the hotel anyway. Other than the pyramids, good for a couple of hours visit, the location is inconvenient to all other attractions. It's location so far from the airport means that an early flight means a very early start to allow for the 45 min extra travel time needed to reach the airport. We did not try the much touted 'Mogul" restaurant but found the other restaurants to be overpriced with food that can only be described as mediocre. If you want the true 'palacial' Egyptian experience, a hotel that lives up to the hype, the Sofitel 'Old Cataract Hotel' located on the Nile, admist beautiful gardens in Aswan, is worth the expense . It truly lives up to it's reputation as a grand hotel

Unique Qualities: Feb is not a good month to use the pool. It looked much like any other hotel pool. No views either because of smog.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: 20 2 383 32 22
Address: Pyramids Road Giza
Directions: Giza