Last month my husband Leo surprised me with our 10 year anniversary vacation. We took a 7 day/6 night night trip to Egypt (pinch me) where we split our stay between three different hotels. Whether you are traveling domestically or abroad you want to make sure the accommodations you are staying in are clean, safe places. Here’s where we stayed on our recent trip and my review of each place.
Address: 6 Pyramids Road, Giza, Cairo 12556 Egypt
We spent the first three nights of our trip at the Marriott Mena House. It’s technically located in Giza, which is on the outskirts of Cairo. At the Mena House the views of the Great Pyramids are unmatched. On our first night, we stayed in a Pyramid view room on the first floor; and for the other two nights, we moved up to a third floor Pyramid view suite. The hotel sits at the base of the Great Pyramids so you will get to enjoy the most beautiful views of them each day and night.
When booking your room at the Mena House I would recommend getting the breakfast package. The breakfast buffet includes a variety of foods, including an omelette station, pancakes, meats, local Egyptian lentils, fresh breads, fruits and veggies. Plus, having your breakfast next to the Great Pyramids each morning cannot be beat. We also dined at the Moghul Room restaurant on property one night, which had delicious and spicy Indian dishes. This was an additional price not included with our room. The Mena House also has 24 hour room service with a large menu of options, including my favorite combo, the chicken shawarma and local Sakara beer.
The Marriott Mena House is a 5 Star Luxury Hotel. For those concerned about safety, it does have a secured, guarded front gate entrance. We felt very safe our entire time there. The hotel rooms all had the most comfortable, plush bedding and we had the fastest wifi here out of all the hotels we stayed at on our trip. If you need to exchange money, the Mena House has an ATM near the front lobby and a local bank by the front gate entrance where you can get Egyptian foreign currency.
Steigenberger Resort Achti – Luxor
Address: Khaled Ibn El Waleed Awameya 83951 Luxor, Egypt
Just a short one hour plane ride south of Cairo is the agricultural city of Luxor. While Cairo is a bustling city with busy traffic and tall residential buildings, Luxor is a town with lush green farmlands contrasted with the dusty desert and mountains split between the East and West Banks of the Nile River.
We spent two nights at the Steigenberger hotel. It’s located on the East Bank of the Nile River with spectacular views of the sunrise and sunset. I loved how close it was to many of the popular tour sites like Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple.
The Steigenberger Resort Achti has a breakfast buffet but it was less impressive compared to what was offered at the Marriott Mena House. Keep in mind the Egyptian breakfast is simple and is not what we typically have in the United States – eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, etc. In Egypt you can expect a lighter breakfast with more vegetarian options.
The Steigenberger also had a secured, guarded front gate entrance. The main lobby staff was very accommodating to ensure we were enjoying our stay and had transportation ready for our tours each day. They even had a delicious cake delivered to our room on our anniversary day which was really nice!
Dusit Thani Lake View – New Cairo
Address: The LakeView, El Tesseen Street, City Centre, Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, Egypt
New Cairo is a new area of commercial and residential development on the southeast edge Cairo. Since old Cairo is so over crowded and congested with traffic, the government basically decided to build a whole new modernized city. We passed by the Cairo City Festival Mall, which hosts internationally known retail stores, like H&M, American Eagle, Zara, Ralph Lauren and Starbucks. As you drive the streets of New Cairo you will see big modern homes, large corporate buildings and many high end car dealerships.
We spent our last and final night of our trip at the Dusit Thani hotel. You can feel the modern luxury as soon as you pull into the front entrance with its overflowing fountains, floral arrangements and high end cars lining the valet area. The rooms at this hotel are suites with a sitting area and small kitchenette. I would have definitely loved to stay here another night or two to enjoy more of the amenities!
It’s located a little further from the Cairo tour sites so keep that in mind if you choose to stay here while you are actively visiting the various sites during the day. You will need to plan for a longer travel time.
Our room came with access to the club service room. Here you can get unlimited sodas, coffee, tea, fresh baked goods and fruit snacks. There is a balcony where you can enjoy the view of the pool from above. Speaking of the pool, the swimming area was very tropical and had a large hot tub to enjoy some relaxation.
Dusit Thani’s main restaurant was named Tao. It was one of my favorite dining experiences. It is an Asian Fusion restaurant with a very large menu full of Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Indian dishes. Inside the restaurant you can see the various kitchens stationed up around the room. It made for a really nice dining experience. The food and service were excellent and one of our favorites of the trip.
Hopefully this review can help you narrow down where to stay on your future trip to visit the land of Egypt. We had positive experiences at each of the hotels we stayed at on our trip. The Marriott Mena house was definitely my favorite since it was the most comfortable with the best views and still kept you close to the tour sites. Feel free to comment below with any questions, comments or places you loved when you visited Egypt.
Sunshine & happiness,
Britt