Hotels FAQ

Question:

Hello everyone, I’m starting to prepare for our 3 week long trip through Egypt in the beginning of April. I was hoping that perhaps someone could recommend a good (clean, with A/C, centraly located) and hopefully decently cheap hotel in Cairo.  I estimated the budget to be around 50USD per night. Can I get a good place for this (or lower) price? Also, if you have any links with a website where I could check out some Cairo hotels and perhaps make reservations (for at least first 2 nights) it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance. I’d greatly appreciate any advices and recommendations. Best regards, Alan D.

Response:

>I’m starting to prepare for our 3 week long trip through Egypt in the >beginning of April. I was hoping that perhaps someone could recommend a good >(clean, with A/C, centraly located) and hopefully decently cheap hotel in >Cairo.  I estimated the budget to be around 50USD per night. Can I get a >good place for this (or lower) price? Also, if you have any links with a >website where I could check out some Cairo hotels and perhaps make >reservations (for at least first 2 nights) it would be greatly appreciated. >Thank you all in advance. I’d greatly appreciate any advices and >recommendations.

Alan, there are lots of reasonable and partly very cheap hotels. I would even say that a reservation is not needed, unless you arrive in the middle of the night. Last time I arrived in Cairo, I just took a taxi and found myself a hotel. Be aware that the taxi drivers always try to take you to their friends’ and relatives’ hotels. I always resist that and simply tell the driver where to drive and where to turn. You can do that without any planning, though a map and a GPS helps. Can anybody else confirm this? Hans-Georg — No mail, please.

Response:

Hi Hans and hello to everyone (one more time =) Thanks for your reply. As a matter of fact I would like to make a reservation because we will arrive in Cairo after midnight, so I’d prefer just to catch a taxi and tell a driver my destination without having to worry which hotel to choose. I’d greatly appreciate if anyone has some recommendations. Thanks in advance. Best regards, Alan D.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’m starting to prepare for our 3 week long trip through Egypt in the >beginning of April. I was hoping that perhaps someone could recommend a good >(clean, with A/C, centraly located) and hopefully decently cheap hotel in >Cairo.  I estimated the budget to be around 50USD per night. Can I get a >good place for this (or lower) price? Also, if you have any links with a >website where I could check out some Cairo hotels and perhaps make >reservations (for at least first 2 nights) it would be greatly appreciated. >Thank you all in advance. I’d greatly appreciate any advices and >recommendations. > Alan, > there are lots of reasonable and partly very cheap hotels. I > would even say that a reservation is not needed, unless you > arrive in the middle of the night. Last time I arrived in Cairo, > I just took a taxi and found myself a hotel. > Be aware that the taxi drivers always try to take you to their > friends’ and relatives’ hotels. I always resist that and simply > tell the driver where to drive and where to turn. You can do > that without any planning, though a map and a GPS helps. > Can anybody else confirm this? > Hans-Georg > — > No mail, please.

Response:

>Hi Hans and hello to everyone (one more time =) >Thanks for your reply. As a matter of fact I would like to make a >reservation because we will arrive in Cairo after midnight, so I’d prefer >just to catch a taxi and tell a driver my destination without having to >worry which hotel to choose. I’d greatly appreciate if anyone has some >recommendations. Thanks in advance.

Alan, yes, in this case it’s probably better to choose a somewhat more expensive hotel where somebody is at the reception through the night. Planes can be late too. Hans-Georg — No mail, please.

Response:

> Hi Hans and hello to everyone (one more time =) > Thanks for your reply. As a matter of fact I would like to make a > reservation because we will arrive in Cairo after midnight, so I’d prefer > just to catch a taxi and tell a driver my destination without having to > worry which hotel to choose. I’d greatly appreciate if anyone has some > recommendations. Thanks in advance. > Best regards, > Alan D.

Alan, I stayed at the Windsor Hotel which is pretty close to downtown and is fairly cheap. It’s the hotel where Michael Palin stayed at in ‘Around the World…’ . It’s certainly got character!!  This could mean that  it may not be what you want. I liked it but I would definitely rate it a solid two stars (the bar alone gets one star IMHO). If you like resort type accommodation then this is not the place. The hotel is basically an old mens club and the rooms are "unique" (some big, some small, no rhyme or reason). Don’t know whether they have AC or not. I was there in January and it got cool enough at night. Most of the flights from Europe arrive late in the evening so all hotels are used to late arrivals… I wouldn’t worry about that. The Windsor definitely has a night doorman and better yet, it’s own web-site:         http://www.windsorcairo.com/mainpage.htm The bar is amazing and I recommend Stella Export (Stella is the local brand of beer). The one big caveat about Cairo: all the drivers HONK… all the time… whether they need to or not. Colin

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