Historical Hotels in Egypt

By: Jimmy Dunn

Egypt has been frequented by tourists much longer then tourism as an industry has existed. The Romans came here for holidays in order to see the mystic antiquities even as they ruled the country after the Greeks.

So it is not surprising that Egypt can boast of some of the most historic hotels in the World. They come in two flavors. First, there are the former royal palaces and lodges which have been converted into hotels. Then, there are the facilities which began as hotels constructed by the like of people such as Thomas Cook and others and built over a century ago, often to accommodate rich European and North American tourists.

In this four part series, we will explore most all of the historical hotels we know of. We began last month with the well known five star Mena House and the less known, three star Windsor Hotel. Both of these are located in Cairo. This month we explore the (Old) Winter Palace and the (Old) Cataract Hotel. Both of these hotels are operated by Sofitel, really a leading luxury hotel operator throughout Egypt,