A couple of weeks ago I went to Cairo for a friends wedding and since the wedding was taking place at the Four Seasons, me and my friends all ended up staying at the same hotel as well. I hadn’t been to Cairo since back in 2008 when I went down to film the Wataniya Airways launch commercial and back then I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel which I really didn’t like. The Four Seasons is literally across the street from where I stayed last time but the experience this time around was worlds apart.
The last time I was in Cairo the city was full of tourists but this time there were barely any. Even when we went to touristic places like Khan Al-Khalili and the Pyramids we barely saw any tourists and the hotels are obviously affected by this. When we were at Four Seasons the hotel was mostly occupied by people attending our wedding and people attending another wedding that was also taking place there and from what a friend told me, the prices the hotel was charging for the rooms was around 40% less than they used to charge when the city was bustling with tourists. I ended up staying in the Diplomatic Suite which turned out to be a lot larger than I was expecting it to be. When you first walk into the room you have a small hallway with a guest bathroom and a small closet. Right after the hallway is the main living space with a large LCD screen, a couch which unfolds into a sofa bed, a work area and a large terrace overlooking the Nile. At the far end of the room is a doorway that leads you into the bedroom where theres a second large LCD screen, a huge walk-in closet and a large marble clad bathroom with two sinks. I think this was pretty much the largest room I had ever stayed in at a hotel.
The hotel as a whole felt a lot like a cruise ship and some of my friends treated it that way by not leaving the hotel the whole weekend we were there. Other than the restaurants and the pool, the hotel also had a bar, a club and a department store all located on premises. The pool area is where we spent all our mornings tanning and recovering from the night before by relaxing on their really comfortable lounges. The only downside to the pool area and actually one of the only issues I had with the hotel is the fact by 12:30PM the sun ends up behind the hotel casting a shadow over the pool area and basically putting a stop to any tanning that was taking place.
On the plus side I didn’t get any food poisoning while I was there. Before leaving to Cairo everyone was warning me about how easy it was to get food poisoned and not to have any salads or drinks with ice so by the time I got to Cairo I was planning on not eating for the whole trip. In the end hunger won and I spent most of the weekend having the hotel burger for brunch and then mixing it up with dinner either by eating at the hotel or somewhere around Cairo. The location of the hotel was pretty great since it was right on the Nile which meant the view from my room was spectacular. The staff were all really friendly and professional and you really don’t feel like you’re in Egypt when you’re inside the hotel. A good example on how good the staff is, on the last day after checking out we were waiting outside the hotel for our rides when the doorman noticed one of the girls with us was holding a pair of shoes in her hand. Without her asking he went and got her a paper bag and placed the shoes inside for her. That earned the hotel a lot of points in my book.
Overall I had a great weekend in Cairo and the hotel was part of the reason why. This is the third or fourth Four Seasons Hotel I’ve stayed in and so far they’ve all turned out to be pretty great. There are two Four Seasons in Cairo, the one I stayed in was the Nile Plaza one (not the one with the casino) and you can check out their website [Here]
14 replies on “Four Seasons Hotel – Cairo at Nile Plaza”
I am Egyptian and I was offended by this review.
why?
” The staff were all really friendly and professional and you really don’t feel like you’re in Egypt when you’re inside the hotel”??
Cairo is a chaotic, loud and overcrowded city and once you’re inside the hotel you’re in a different world. I don’t see how stating that is offensive.
As an Egyptian, I’m telling you to be real and stop it with your fake sense of nationalism. Mark is absolutely right and any Egyptian who care for his or her country absolutely understands what he means. Clean standards of living can differentiate from one place to another but by no means did Egypt reach any standards of clean food. Have you checked any of those “reputable” restaurants kitchens in Egypt and saw how food was handled?
Plus points for Mark for staying somewhat safe by eating in a hotel. When the country’s political and cultural structure stabilize, we can then focus on being offended by an honest review. Pathetic!
1st, Mark wasn’t trying to offend anyone here, 2nd, even if he says something bad about anything (which he didn’t), you have to learn to respect other peoples opinions.
Who told you, you get food poisoning from Egypt is simply racist. Second coming to Egypt and not leaving the hotel is a shame. Even though Egypt looks bad on TV. It’s is still a beautiful country to go around in. As a tourist I mean. There is all kinds of restaurants, malls, tourist attractions. If I have alot of money, which I don’t. I rather live in Egypt than Kuwait. Just the amount of things I can do. Politics really don’t affect people shopping or eating fancy food. The country basically never stops no matter what is happening in the political landscape. People are living like they always were. Even though TV only shows you the poverty of the Egyptian people, there is alot of people who are living a high standard of living. There is alot of rich people and middle class people. But racist will make you believe that all Egyptians are poor and beggars.
I don’t know what triggered your unnecessary and unrelated outburst but you definitely don’t have a handle on what racism is. I also never said I didn’t leave the hotel.
Ohhh… My husband is Egyptian and any comment i say about egypt or its people creates argument between us.. No wonder.. Keep on blogging mark. Peace…
Dear Ahmad & Egyptian before you read my comment I am Egyptian as well ,2nd I usually do not agree with most of what Mark used to write BUT I do not think that he means anything bad with his description this time ,it is very natural if you are in any Four Season in any country in the world not only Egypt to feel different once you walk out to the street
Dear Mark being a doctor just want to highlight food poisoning in Egypt especially after eating salad ,old days we used animal fertilizers to grow vegetable and poor veg wash will lead to dysentery but recently it is very rare to use this way so I can reassure you that it is more safe nowadays also Egyptian food usually cocked with ghee and fatty meat and if you are not used to that type of food you may get gastric and intestinal upset very easy
Egypt is very old country and tourism is a major industry since ages ,plenty of hotel and tourism colleges , multicultural hotel management and once hotel staff are in good mood you will get 1st class service you will never find anywhere
I hope no bad feelings , it is free discussion and most of us are friends with different point of view
Note: to KUKU I strongly advise you not to comment about Egypt especially these days ,my wife is Egyptian and I can not criticize Egypt with her at all whatever reasonable I am
By the way mark next time in Cairo please try Jazeera Sofitel and Giza Four Season both are amazing
Hey, I’ve heard good stuff about Sofitel but the Giza Four Seasons I was told is old and not that great anymore. I remember going there on my last trip though and having their burger, the placed looked pretty nice on the inside if I remember correctly.
Sofitel in the middle of the Nile with beautiful infinity pool, all rooms with Nile view , the best ,is the floating Lebanese restaurant unbelievable view with yammy barbecue and mazzas.
Sigh.
First off, great review Mark, very detailed but I doubt one thing, till this day I haven’t had a decent burger in Egypt, some are good, but no where near the true “burger” experience. Should have mini-reviewed it or something. 😛 Priorities, right?
I’m Egyptian, I was born in Kuwait and stayed there until I was 25 years old. I left Kuwait and came to Egypt barely two months after the revolution (on March, to be exact).
You have to excuse some of the Egyptians feeling offended, they’ve been hurt badly the last couple of years, most of the Egyptians are trying to make Egypt great again, it’s mostly done by talking but there are a few out there that actually go and do something about it. That’s all, please, don’t take their “anger” in a wrong way, it’s just misplaced from their end.
To the Egyptians posting or thinking about posting the same arguments of “racist” or so on. Think about it from his perspective, our streets are crowded, loud, if you live on the first floor on a main street then god help you with all the noise pollution.
We can’t just attack anyone that criticizes something, if we truly care, we need to be neutral and hear their thoughts, maybe there is truth to it, and this one obviously has it.
He didn’t say “all Egyptians are [insert-word]”. He mentioned the food, which we all know to be true in many cases, hell, everyday there is at least an article about it on a magazine or a newspaper (in Egypt). He also mentioned the noise, which I have explained before. We live to honk while driving, we even made a joke about it. “Honey, I’m late, I didn’t drive and honk today, damnit! I’ll be back in 4 hours”.
Either way, just relax, it’s nothing to be offended by, it’s the truth. While I wish things were different, it’s not. Though I’m hoping it will change within the next 10 years. We have a lot of work to do.