A quiet hotel in Cairo is worth gold... or even Diamonds! Traffic is heavy at all hours, horns are considered to be the common means of communication among drivers. Also the "quaint" custom of calling the faithful to prayer by a muezzin in a masjid tower has now been replaced by loudspeakers - and it has been recently proposed in Cairo that ALL the speakers be synchronized - and the same recorded voice be used for the call throughout the city. How early do want to be awakened?

A quiet hotel and a high floor all help. Though it has been a while we enjoyed the Ramses Hilton, I believe it was, on the Corniche.

BTW, go visit the Naguib Mahfouz Café and Restaurant (named for the Egyptian 1988 Nobel Literature prize winner, who was a regular patron) in the Khan al Khalili bazaar, near the Hussein Mosque. Good food, great service. You will feel like a sheikh, and they won't "sheikh you down" for prices. (I'm RD&H!) The bazaar is a must-see for anyone in Cairo! Inshallah (God willing,) you will find a bargain there... (You will hear that phrase a lot - it actually means something like "If God wills it, it may happen, probably without any particular intervention on my behalf." Take it as a really iffy "maybe." It is pronounced "een-SHAH-lah".)

Don't bother asking for pork - though Egypt positions itself as a secular republic ('Misr' The Arab Republic of Egypt,) you will likely have beef bacon, etc. IMO, Egypt has a lot to offer, and many Egyptians are very friendly. But you will find a country with some issues - Mubarak has been in power a quarter of a century, and is looking for six more years - and is that a Gamal's nose under the tent I see? Many Egyptians would like to see less secularism rather than more... be aware and act accodringly.