iNTERCONTINENTALS are generally fine places to stay, but I'm assured they are a notch below Four Seasons et al. Cairo has two delightful Intercontinentals, the one close to the airport (Citystars) is modern and quite superb, but not close to anything touristy: the other is older, very comfortable but rather stuffy, and bang slap in the centre of things downtown.

Marsa Alam, on the |Red |Sea Coast below Hurghada has an extremely nice Intercontinental, though it lacks a club lounge.

Taba, too, is equipped with an Interconti, nice enough, but again without a club lounge: and Taba is a bit of a dump. Prices start at around $90++ a night: so excellent value!