Hotels

Egypt’s hotels run the gamut from glistening new resort complexes to spartan, dusty dives in dingy alleys; somewhere in between, clean, comfortable, inexpensive hotels do exist. Most towns and cities have lower-range hotels with rooms for LE10-18, as well as a number of middle-range hotels where you’ll pay I-E22-28. More comfortable hotels run into the LE3O-45 range. Always ask to see the room before you pay. Beware of scams. It is common for someone to claim to be affiliated with a popular hotel (like the one you asterisked in the pages of your Let’s Go). Upon your pointing out that the sign in front says Cockroach Inn and not Happy Golden Village, you will be fed stories about name changes and the violent deaths of the managers of all the other hotels in town. Don’t believe them.

Prices vary considerably between high and low season. The high season in Alexandria is June-August, in the Nile Valley October-April. In the high season, hotel rates for the Nile Valley (particularly Luxor and Aswan) are anywhere from 10 to 50% higher than listed here. In Cairo the high season is also in winter, but the differential between seasonal prices tends to be less. There is a hotel tax which varies by location, from 19% in Cairo to 10-12% in most other places. Unless otherwise noted, the tax should be included. Breakfast is included at nearly every hotel listed, with exceptions noted. As with hostels, cash is the way to go; outside the big cities, credit and traveler’s checks will take you exactly nowhere.

Any hotel in an outlying area will have your laundry done for you, but this may or may not compensate for drawbacks. Know that private baths are luxuries in Egypt, and are never free. Don’t expect air-conditioning, private telephones, or other amenities, including towels and soap (and toilet paper; guess what that little squirting pipe in the toilet bowl is for). Go to Egypt’s well-stocked pharmacies and street vendors to buy toilet paper. Oh, and Mum is an Egyptian antiperspirant.