Another year, another visit to the Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor

After less than a year, I paid another visit to the Sofitel Winter Palace in Luxor, Egypt. This time I visited on the occasion of my father's 70th birthday.

Since it was impossible to book 4 consecutive nights in the same room category, we had to split up our reservations. My parents stayed the entire time in the palace (in two different room categories). I on the other hand had to move to the Pavillon for one night (see separate review later) after spending 3 night in the palace as well.

Like last year, our stay was wonderful. I simply do not understand why people write, sometimes, bad review about this place. Ok, it is not the most modern property, but hey, the hotel breathes history and the staff are out of this world. Let me explain...

Since we only arrived at 23:00 at Luxor Airport, I booked an airport transfer through the hotel. The uniformed driver was awaiting us at the entrance of the airport and took us in less than 15 minutes to the hotel. 

There we were greeted by 2 friendly porters who took care of our luggage. At the reception I was immedialtely greeted by my name and the receptionist welcomed me back to the hotel. Since it was already past midnight (it took some while to retrieve our luggage at Luxor Airport), the hotel bar was already closed so they could not provide us with the usual welcome juice. But no problem. 

Check-in was very smooth. I just had to sign the necessary paperwork and in less than 5 minutes, the receptionist, personally, took us to our rooms, while refreshing my memory about the restaurants and pool. He also handed me over the welcome drink voucher in the Royal Bar for everyone of us.

The hotel lobby looked exactly the same as last year! Yes, I was so happy they have not started the renovations yet!

As previously stated, at the time of booking (August 2022), it was impossible to book 4 consecutive nights in the same room category. This is why we had to split up our reservations. 

For the first 3 nights, I booked my parents a Luxury Room with garden view. This room was upgraded to the King Farouk Room, which contained the actual furniture from King Farouk's apartment in the hotel and an almost life size picture of the King himself. The welcome amenity, consisting of a fruit platter, was ready in the room accompanied by a personal letter of the GM. 

My room was upgraded from a classic room with garden view to a superior room with garden view. The welcome amenity, consisting of a fruit platter, was also ready in this room accompanied by a personal letter of the GM. The next morning flowers were brought to the room. A nice gesture!

The bathrooms of both rooms looked very similar. They were also slightly renovated. The edges around the bath tub and the tiles were renewed and the bath itself was also repainted. New are also the large dispensers containing shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion of Aqua di Portofino. 

The overall service at the hotel is great and especially the butler service provided by the chief butler for and the Winter Palace and the Old Cataract in Aswan. 

As a souvenir I wanted to buy a little vase with the logo of the Winter Palace on it. The last evening during dinner, the butler arrived with nice bag containing a vase. The amount of money was charged on the room bill.

Also the service at the Royal Bar, at the Pool bar and in the several restaurants during breakfast and dinner was excellent.

Breakfast is still the same as last year. So nothing new to mention here.

In the evening, we ate at 3 different venues during ou stay.

Our first evening we ate at the 1886 restaurant. This time I did not forget to bring my tie and jacket :-). Dinner was very good. Do not expect to eat French Haute Cuisine, but all our dishes were tasteful and good.

Our second evening we ate in the garden. The hotel provides a barbeque with buffet. The location has changed. Last year, the tables were set in the garden itself. This year everything is moved towards the garden bar. Also the buffet was less elaborate than last year. In all, this turned out to be our least favourite eating venue.

Our last evening we ate at La Corniche, the same restaurant as the breakfast restaurant. The place is less fancy the the 1886, but the food is as good.

Every evening we enjoyed our drinks and cocktails in the Royal Bar. A real treat with excellent service. 

Although the hotel was fully booked, it was quiet everywhere. 

The pool is what it is. It is not modern, but it does the trick. One day however the pool was closed because of bad water quality. Several people complained, but hey, better they close the damn thing than getting ill.

The gardens are still wonderful. 

We had again a great stay here, despite the ageing of the property. See you next year, Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor!