An oasis of peace near the pyramids. (Moevenpick Resort Cairo Pyramids)

Member Name: garymarsh6

Product:	Moevenpick Resort Cairo Pyramids
Date:	04/04/09 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close to & stunniing views of the Pyramids

Disadvantages: A bit of a treck to Cairo centre.

Mövenpick Resort Cairo Pyramids.

This is a five star garden hotel within sight of the magnificent pyramids of Giza. The hotel is situated on the outskirts of Cairo approximately one mile from the pyramids and it would be easy to walk to. They are an amazing sight to see. That being said it is about 8 miles into the centre of Cairo through the most horrendous traffic I have ever seen. The Mövenpick group are a Swiss operated hotel chain and have 65 hotels throughout the world.

The main lobby consists of a vast open space which includes a check in facility, bank and a souvenir shop. It also houses a buffet restaurant, coffee shop, Thai restaurant patisserie shop and bar. There are a couple of other eating venues in the hotel. There is a very large swimming pool and a pizza restaurant near the pool. There is also a gym for exercise holics with ample equipment.

The rooms are actually small bungalow type rooms set within the grounds of the hotel. There are 240 rooms spread out throughout the gardens. The rooms consist of twin, double or triple bedded rooms with a good sized bathroom. There are also suites and junior suites with added facilities. All of the rooms are air conditioned and have cable TV. They are of a good size. The beds were very comfortable and quite hard which seems to be the norm in all the hotels we stayed in. The pillows were nice and firm too. The room was clean and tidy. Each room either had a small patio or balcony in front of them with four chairs.

Each one also has a bathroom phone, direct dial telephones, electrical sockets, hair dryers, a mini bar, radios and a safe in the wardrobe. The rooms have just recently undergone an upgrade and redecorating so the rooms look quite nice. They are tastefully decorated. The garden setting is also quiet although the hotel is situated near a main road so there may be an element of traffic noise from time to time depending on where you room was situated.

The bathroom was kitted out in marble and the shower over the bath gave an ample powerful supply of hot water. There were toiletries provided which were pleasant smelling including shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, moisturising cream, sewing kit, and other essentials.
There was a bidet toilet and shaving points plus a hairdryer which wasn't needed for my rapidly receding hairline!

We stayed in the Mövenpick pyramids hotel for two nights on our recent trip to Cairo. The staff were all welcoming and professional and greeted you with a smile and hello. The standard is quite good in this hotel.

Breakfast is a buffet affair with a wide selection of breakfast goodies divided up into sections or stations. The was a yoghurt station, fresh fruit, fruit juices, pastry section with a wide selection of French, Danish and local breads. There is an egg section where a chef will and does do amazing things with eggs. Omelettes, fried, scrambled all freshly prepared in front of your eyes. Although I do not eat eggs they were prepared in an excellent manner and those that ate them said they were the best they had ever tasted.

The hot buffet section has a wide variety of meats, freshly cooked tomatoes which taste absolutely wonderful and believe it or not actually taste of real tomatoes instead of the usual tasteless variety one gets from supermarkets at home. They were so nice I had a tomato on toast every morning.

We had dinner in Bua Khoa restaurant which was a Thai restaurant after reading rave reviews of the food served there. The food was prepared by a cook and her assistant and was on par with food I had eaten in Thailand. The kitchen was open plan and you could see them working furiously away preparing the food for the restaurant. It was absolutely wonderful piping hot and very tasty. I would thoroughly recommend eating in this restaurant.

The bar which naturally was a focal point in the hotel and was expensive compared to prices in the UK but this was not unusual throughout Egypt as all the hotels seemed to charge the same price. Approximately £10 for a gin and tonic.

There is also a panoramic bar which was difficult for some people to find. You have to exit the hotel and walk along the road about 100 yards and is not well advertised. Only guests can use this bar and you have to show your room keycard before they will let you enter it. To get to the bar there are about four flights of stairs to go up but once there you do get stunning views of the Pyramids which are close by. Drinks are around £10 a go.

The staff all seemed quite happy and very welcoming and made our stay quite pleasant. Due to the heightened security levels throughout Egypt there were armed policemen at the entrance of all the hotels and tourist police everywhere. On entering the hotel all hand baggage was scanned and you had to go through a metal detector which was puzzling as the suitcases were not scanned at all.

Price ranges per night approximately £90 to £280 a night depending on the type of room including buffet breakfast.

Opinion of this hotel.

It was a reasonably good hotel ideally placed on the outskirts of Cairo for the pyramids and a peaceful haven to return to after a day of sightseeing. It is a bit isolated if you wanted to explore Cairo proper but as this was a whistle stop tour it was adequate for our needs. Would I stay here again? Yes but I don't think that is going to be likely as I would not like to return to Cairo again. Therefore I am only going to give it a four star rating.

Summary: Reasonably comfortable hotel.