Jun 4, 2021, 1:32 pm
Last edit by: lamphs
6/4/21
Some current e-mail addresses:
Guest relations - [email protected]
Front office - frontoffice.menahouse@marriott,com
Personal e-mail for a guest relations rep - [email protected]
Some current e-mail addresses:
Guest relations - [email protected]
Front office - frontoffice.menahouse@marriott,com
Personal e-mail for a guest relations rep - [email protected]
Marriott Mena House (near pyramids), Cairo, Egypt [Master Thread]
Mar 9, 2022, 2:01 am
#92
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
Personally, I think 3 nights is a bit too much for that side of Cairo but yes I did notice the construction and be prepared to bribe a lot of local police in the area if you aren’t with a tour.
Mar 9, 2022, 5:14 pm
#94
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
I chose the Mena House because you can walk from the hotel up to the Pyramids and Sphinx. However I was stopped quite a few times by police officers with their hands out asking for money and I politely kept walking away but could hear their sharp urging to come back.
It’s not that far of a walk as it’s slightly up hill but be prepared to deal with a lot of unscrupulous people.
It’s not that far of a walk as it’s slightly up hill but be prepared to deal with a lot of unscrupulous people.
Mar 11, 2022, 4:28 am
#95
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York
Programs: Delta SM
Posts: 153
Any indication of how close they are to being done with the renovation? Thanks for the pictures!
Mar 12, 2022, 12:23 pm
#96
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Mexico City
Programs: Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, Marriot Gold, IHG Silver, Choice Platinum, Wyndham Gold
Posts: 3,849
I chose the Mena House because you can walk from the hotel up to the Pyramids and Sphinx. However I was stopped quite a few times by police officers with their hands out asking for money and I politely kept walking away but could hear their sharp urging to come back.
It’s not that far of a walk as it’s slightly up hill but be prepared to deal with a lot of unscrupulous people.
It’s not that far of a walk as it’s slightly up hill but be prepared to deal with a lot of unscrupulous people.
May 25, 2022, 1:30 am
#98
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York
Programs: Delta SM
Posts: 153
Got impatient and fired off an email to the hotel to see if there's any news and surprise, surprise:
"Please be informed that still we don't know the specific date or time for the opening of the historic wing.
Please let me know if any further assistance.
Best Regards,
Christy Onsy | Guest Relations Agent
Marriott Mena House, Cairo"
"Please be informed that still we don't know the specific date or time for the opening of the historic wing.
Please let me know if any further assistance.
Best Regards,
Christy Onsy | Guest Relations Agent
Marriott Mena House, Cairo"
May 29, 2022, 4:28 pm
#99
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London UK
Programs: BA Gold/Marriott Titanium Lifetime/UA/JetBlue
Posts: 618
Had a lovely stay here a couple of weeks ago. Titanium members and used SNA for a lovely Executive Suite. Lovely more for the view of the Pyramids from the balcony than for the actual comfort of the room.
Th room was nice, bed comfortable, air conditioning perfectly good (important to me!). Room 440 had a great view though lower floors whilst having the view have palm trees blocking the pyramids so not so good for photos.
M Club evening snacks were excellent, and different every night. Wine and Beer complimentary. Snack throughout the day available there and soft drinks 24/7 help yourself.
Breakfast buffet good with again a great view from outside tables. Evening buffet in 139 was fairly good but to much variety. The Mogul Indian Restaurant was superb especially the vegetarian options. Highly recommend.
Nice Pool area and staff throughout were lovely.
We were so glad we did not stay in town, though we visited sightseeing it was a relief to get back to the Mend House. Building work was not an issue, and the biggest problem was the noisy evening parties which they seem to host a few days a week........ VERY noisy but finished at 2300 so acceptable for us.
Would definitely return here.
Th room was nice, bed comfortable, air conditioning perfectly good (important to me!). Room 440 had a great view though lower floors whilst having the view have palm trees blocking the pyramids so not so good for photos.
M Club evening snacks were excellent, and different every night. Wine and Beer complimentary. Snack throughout the day available there and soft drinks 24/7 help yourself.
Breakfast buffet good with again a great view from outside tables. Evening buffet in 139 was fairly good but to much variety. The Mogul Indian Restaurant was superb especially the vegetarian options. Highly recommend.
Nice Pool area and staff throughout were lovely.
We were so glad we did not stay in town, though we visited sightseeing it was a relief to get back to the Mend House. Building work was not an issue, and the biggest problem was the noisy evening parties which they seem to host a few days a week........ VERY noisy but finished at 2300 so acceptable for us.
Would definitely return here.
May 31, 2022, 9:39 am
#100
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
Had a lovely stay here a couple of weeks ago. Titanium members and used SNA for a lovely Executive Suite. Lovely more for the view of the Pyramids from the balcony than for the actual comfort of the room.
Th room was nice, bed comfortable, air conditioning perfectly good (important to me!). Room 440 had a great view though lower floors whilst having the view have palm trees blocking the pyramids so not so good for photos.
M Club evening snacks were excellent, and different every night. Wine and Beer complimentary. Snack throughout the day available there and soft drinks 24/7 help yourself.
Breakfast buffet good with again a great view from outside tables. Evening buffet in 139 was fairly good but to much variety. The Mogul Indian Restaurant was superb especially the vegetarian options. Highly recommend.
Nice Pool area and staff throughout were lovely.
We were so glad we did not stay in town, though we visited sightseeing it was a relief to get back to the Mend House. Building work was not an issue, and the biggest problem was the noisy evening parties which they seem to host a few days a week........ VERY noisy but finished at 2300 so acceptable for us.
Would definitely return here.
Th room was nice, bed comfortable, air conditioning perfectly good (important to me!). Room 440 had a great view though lower floors whilst having the view have palm trees blocking the pyramids so not so good for photos.
M Club evening snacks were excellent, and different every night. Wine and Beer complimentary. Snack throughout the day available there and soft drinks 24/7 help yourself.
Breakfast buffet good with again a great view from outside tables. Evening buffet in 139 was fairly good but to much variety. The Mogul Indian Restaurant was superb especially the vegetarian options. Highly recommend.
Nice Pool area and staff throughout were lovely.
We were so glad we did not stay in town, though we visited sightseeing it was a relief to get back to the Mend House. Building work was not an issue, and the biggest problem was the noisy evening parties which they seem to host a few days a week........ VERY noisy but finished at 2300 so acceptable for us.
Would definitely return here.
Oct 8, 2022, 10:57 am
#101
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
For those stayed at Mena House in a Suite recently, are the Suites in the modern building or the historic building?
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Oct 9, 2022, 1:56 am
#102
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,272
For those stayed at Mena House in a Suite recently, are the Suites in the modern building or the historic building?
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Oct 9, 2022, 7:36 am
#103
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,203
For those stayed at Mena House in a Suite recently, are the Suites in the modern building or the historic building?
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Hotel told me they have suites in the Modern building with Pyramid view. I found this not credible because most reviews said the modern building does not face Pyramid. SNA pool has Executive suite with Pyramid view. Not sure this is the reality.
Oct 10, 2022, 10:31 am
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Thank you guys for the information.
I will submit the SNA requests then and see what they would assign.
The travel service located at Mena House is the branch of the travel agency Misr Travel with which we booked our customized private tour for a 10 days tour in Egypt that incl Aswan, a 3 nights Nile cruise and Luxor. I arranged the hotels in Cairo and all domestic flights myself, they did the rest. Turn out to be a smart thing to do because of the truly unreliability of Egypt Air, causing us to cancel a flight with UA miles and rebooked a different itinerary with revenue tickets on Egypt Air website - that also caused us to change a St. Regis booking to Le Meridien at the airport as the new flight leaves at 06:10am!
When I inquired with the hotel about the breakfast and suite upgrades, apparently the hotel also shared the incoming guest info with the on site travel agency. The travel agency rep later sent me an email with available tours information. I informed him we already booked with Misr. He replied back he knew the rep at the head office, who works with us on our customized package. He further assured me that if there is anything we need during the stay, please do contact the branch office on site...
Breakfast still is served at 139, and thankfully starts at 6:30am, as we have to be at the North Entrance to get our Cairo Pass when the office opens at 8am. We have a tight schedule since our primary goal is to see Saqqara necropolis where quite some new sites open in past couple years for public viewing. Some of them close at noon. It is a 30 min drive from Giza to Saqqara.
I sure hope the trip would turn out to be worth all the efforts! I will update the thread with our experiences.
I will submit the SNA requests then and see what they would assign.
The travel service located at Mena House is the branch of the travel agency Misr Travel with which we booked our customized private tour for a 10 days tour in Egypt that incl Aswan, a 3 nights Nile cruise and Luxor. I arranged the hotels in Cairo and all domestic flights myself, they did the rest. Turn out to be a smart thing to do because of the truly unreliability of Egypt Air, causing us to cancel a flight with UA miles and rebooked a different itinerary with revenue tickets on Egypt Air website - that also caused us to change a St. Regis booking to Le Meridien at the airport as the new flight leaves at 06:10am!
When I inquired with the hotel about the breakfast and suite upgrades, apparently the hotel also shared the incoming guest info with the on site travel agency. The travel agency rep later sent me an email with available tours information. I informed him we already booked with Misr. He replied back he knew the rep at the head office, who works with us on our customized package. He further assured me that if there is anything we need during the stay, please do contact the branch office on site...
Breakfast still is served at 139, and thankfully starts at 6:30am, as we have to be at the North Entrance to get our Cairo Pass when the office opens at 8am. We have a tight schedule since our primary goal is to see Saqqara necropolis where quite some new sites open in past couple years for public viewing. Some of them close at noon. It is a 30 min drive from Giza to Saqqara.
I sure hope the trip would turn out to be worth all the efforts! I will update the thread with our experiences.
Last edited by Happy; Oct 10, 2022 at 11:33 am
Nov 9, 2022, 9:08 am
#105
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Here is the update.
We recently stayed there for 2 nights on 2 separate reservations on points.
What surprised me the most is that, the reception looks like a counter at a doctor’s office. Very unfit for a hotel of such caliber. On top of that it is NOT professional. My nights did not post, only one night’s folio was sent. I have to chase for the missing nights and the welcome gift bonus points. The nights finally are posted but still no welcome gift bonus points. They took out 5000 EGP for incidental guarantee. I cannot get on AMEX site to. check if that has dropped off yet because at Luxor, AMEX suddenly wants one time pass code to access, but the email option to receive such does not show up - only Text which does not work. In fact once in Luxor, none of the regular US banks/ brokerages text messages ever come thru. They worked while in Aswan, both on the Nile cruise boat and at the hotel.
Anyway, hotel ground is beautiful but you need to know your orientation and not to leave the “secured area” as you walked from one part of the hotel to another part. You could easily exit it then you would need to go thru X-ray machine again. There are at least 3 such security checked points on the hotel ground. Also because the ground is large, it takes 5 to 7 min walking to go anywhere from one location to another, even it is just across the pond (our building to the 139 restaurant).
I have no idea whether our room is updated because all furnishings are old, period style type but the bathroom facilities are modern. Floor is very dirty probably due to the location, but they apparently cleaned the balcony furnitures regularly.
My SNAs did not clear. The first night got the refusal 2 days before arrival. At check in FD said second night had a chance to get a suite. I told the guy not to bother as changing room was too much trouble. So he returned the 2nd cert promptly.
The airport ATM gave all 200 bills. I was able to break 4x200 bills to 20s and 50s at the FD so had small bills especially the 20s for tips.
M club had decent evening offerings but the club size was small, If you did not arrive promptly at 5:50pm, you most likely had difficulty to find seats. Some selfish guests also made the issue worse by occupying more space than they should, like single person took up a 4 persons table and lingered long after they had their meals. Staff did not do anything about it.
139 restaurant for breakfast was OK. It was pleasant before 7:30 but was very busy and like a zoo around the food area after 8:30.
Overall it is a good property and a good value for redemption especially hotel tax at Cairo is at 28%! But I think 2 nights would be the maximum to stay there.
Oh it is a 7 to 10 min uphill walk to the Great Pyramid entrance from the hotel. You would pass a police station and countless crooks on your walk up.
Our 3rd night was at Le Meridien next to CAI. It’s lounge has much better foods comparing to M Club. We had a 615am flight so we missed the buffet breakfast which opened at 4:30am though in reality we could grab a coffee and some foods because the security check point between airport and hotel at the end of the connecting walkway on 3rd floor was not busy at all! Guy just waved us thru. We left Le Meridien at 3:55am and finished check in at 4:20, after passing yet another check point to get to the check in counter.
Le Meridien did not even ask for CC at check in,
We recently stayed there for 2 nights on 2 separate reservations on points.
What surprised me the most is that, the reception looks like a counter at a doctor’s office. Very unfit for a hotel of such caliber. On top of that it is NOT professional. My nights did not post, only one night’s folio was sent. I have to chase for the missing nights and the welcome gift bonus points. The nights finally are posted but still no welcome gift bonus points. They took out 5000 EGP for incidental guarantee. I cannot get on AMEX site to. check if that has dropped off yet because at Luxor, AMEX suddenly wants one time pass code to access, but the email option to receive such does not show up - only Text which does not work. In fact once in Luxor, none of the regular US banks/ brokerages text messages ever come thru. They worked while in Aswan, both on the Nile cruise boat and at the hotel.
Anyway, hotel ground is beautiful but you need to know your orientation and not to leave the “secured area” as you walked from one part of the hotel to another part. You could easily exit it then you would need to go thru X-ray machine again. There are at least 3 such security checked points on the hotel ground. Also because the ground is large, it takes 5 to 7 min walking to go anywhere from one location to another, even it is just across the pond (our building to the 139 restaurant).
I have no idea whether our room is updated because all furnishings are old, period style type but the bathroom facilities are modern. Floor is very dirty probably due to the location, but they apparently cleaned the balcony furnitures regularly.
My SNAs did not clear. The first night got the refusal 2 days before arrival. At check in FD said second night had a chance to get a suite. I told the guy not to bother as changing room was too much trouble. So he returned the 2nd cert promptly.
The airport ATM gave all 200 bills. I was able to break 4x200 bills to 20s and 50s at the FD so had small bills especially the 20s for tips.
M club had decent evening offerings but the club size was small, If you did not arrive promptly at 5:50pm, you most likely had difficulty to find seats. Some selfish guests also made the issue worse by occupying more space than they should, like single person took up a 4 persons table and lingered long after they had their meals. Staff did not do anything about it.
139 restaurant for breakfast was OK. It was pleasant before 7:30 but was very busy and like a zoo around the food area after 8:30.
Overall it is a good property and a good value for redemption especially hotel tax at Cairo is at 28%! But I think 2 nights would be the maximum to stay there.
Oh it is a 7 to 10 min uphill walk to the Great Pyramid entrance from the hotel. You would pass a police station and countless crooks on your walk up.
Our 3rd night was at Le Meridien next to CAI. It’s lounge has much better foods comparing to M Club. We had a 615am flight so we missed the buffet breakfast which opened at 4:30am though in reality we could grab a coffee and some foods because the security check point between airport and hotel at the end of the connecting walkway on 3rd floor was not busy at all! Guy just waved us thru. We left Le Meridien at 3:55am and finished check in at 4:20, after passing yet another check point to get to the check in counter.
Le Meridien did not even ask for CC at check in,
Last edited by Happy; Nov 13, 2022 at 10:07 am Reason: Typo