Thinking of heading to Egypt this fall? Traveler Nikki Okrah (@nokrah) visited the historical country recently and shares where she stayed during her time in Cairo, Luxor, El Gouna and more cities and towns throughout the country.
During our time in Egypt, we stayed entirely in hotels with the exception of El Gouna, where we stayed in a gorgeous two-bedroom, top floor apartment that was next to the El Gouna Yacht Club. The apartment had a massive open-air rooftop that overlooked the Marina. The hotels were all great, with the exception of the hotel in Luxor. Because tourism has taken a big hit in Egypt, many hotels have not invested in updating their facilities in Luxor, which is the city with many temples and tombs of pharaohs. I would recommend using an Airbnb if you plan to visit Luxor Egypt because they looked more modern and up-to-date with better amenities.
RELATED: Traveler Story: How Egypt Exceeded Nikki’s Expectations
In El Gouna, our rooftop apartment was amazing! I found it on booking.com for $150 USD/night for three people. It’s next to the El Gouna Yacht Club and the area was safe and had upmarket properties. It was a mix of local Egyptians and tourists and it had nice restaurants, shops and a nightclub. For the first time while in Egypt, I didn’t feel I needed to be fully covered to be respectful of the culture. While in Aswan, I stayed at a smaller boutique hotel on the corniche that had a nice Nile River view and organized tours. The other hotels we visited include:
Intercontinental Cairo CityStars: Close to the airports and shopping, our hotel and the mall attached to it were some of the nicer parts of Cairo. I would stay there or the area close to the Egyptian Museum of Cairo again. This location was very convenient.
Photo courtesy of InterContinental Cairo Citystars.
Pavillon Winter Luxor, The Sofitel: This hotel in Luxor needed complete room renovations. I loved the history in Luxor including Valley of the Kings, Karnack Temple and Hatesput Temple, but I would have preferred an Airbnb.
The Baron Palace Sahl Hasheesh: Located in Hurghada, this is an amazing 5-star hotel in Al Sahesh. Complete with incredible staff, amenities and great service, it was $190 USD/night for three people. Everything about the stay was perfect and the staff even called me a “queen” several times at breakfast in an affirming and positive way.
Photo courtesy of booking.com