Swimming Pools: The small but pleasant pool at the Luxor Wena Hotel charges LE10 for a swim (open 8am-7pm). You can splash about in the dramatically situated soup at the Novotel for the same price. Egotel, next to the Luxor Wena, reluctantly admits the riff-raff for a wallet-wounding LE25 in summer only. The Emilio Hotel on Yousef Hassan St. is a bargain at LE7. Hotel guests, of course, get in for free-but how can you tell?

Laundry: Several of the accommodations listed below provide use of washing machines, most for free.

24-Hour Pharmacy; Ahsraf (tel. 37 28 34). Walk 400m on Al-Karnak St. from intersection with Al-Mahatta St, until you sec the Modern Shop on one side and a Suzuki dealership on the other. Turn right and then left on the next block.