Originally Posted by anabolism

Great, thanks!

Should I request an exterior room? Once, at the Hilton Prague, I had an interior room with windows to the atrium, and my room filled with smoke from people smoking in the atrium many floors below. Do people smoke in the atrium or restaurant or lounge at the Heliopolis Towers?

I didn't see people smoking in the atrium. I also dont recall the room windows opening. Based on what I was told (YMMV as the staff were really lovely people but its not polished service and they didnt seem 100% sure of things) the nonsmoking rooms all looked out over atrium and smoking rooms might look out over pool area (which has shisha/hookah bar). I do not believe smoking was allowed in the lounge but was only there very quickly to grab a few sodas. There is shisha/hookah available in the Lebanese restaurant which is part of the larger Towers/Hilton shared lobby. I would suggest calling the hotel and asking about smoking policy to make the most informed choice as I totally empathize with how irritating smoke can be!

After giving it some more thought and being very frank, I would advise that given the possible extent of your sensitivities to smoke you really consider reevaluating the visit. Smoking is just so prevalent in this area of the world. I also strongly discourage you from staying at the property if even the slightest smoke would cause a health problem for you (Again, I know how unpleasant it can be for people). I see the Le Meridian Cairo airport is (supposedly) 100% smoke free and this may be worth checking out depending on your situation.

Would you recommend booking a meet&assist service to help with entry or exit processing?

That really depends on your flight situation. I have only departed CAI in J (and most recently using *A airlines) and think the departure procedures are really easy and efficient (e.g. there is dedicated Gold Track security and immigration). Arrivals it really depends on timing, you can see how many flights are arriving and what terminal you are arriving to in order to make informed decision. I think the Towers and Hilton will offer highly expedited arrival services for $50 and this would include someone waiting as you get off the plane. If there are many hundreds of people in the arrival hall and its the middle of the night this may be worth it for you.

If we're staying at the Towers and have one day, what would you recommend seeing tourist-wise, and how should we arrange it?

A great question and sadly I have not been able to be a tourist during my visits. I will say again that the staff at the Towers (and the Conrad) were really lovely and I suspect they would easily be able to arrange driver and tour.