Excellent stay at Sofitel Cairo Nile El Gezirah

I recently completed a 3 night-stay at Sofitel Cairo Nile El Gezirah and I had a very enjoyable stay. Even if it’s not the newest Sofitel (some renovations will be needed sooner rather than later), room was still in acceptable conditions and the hotel has a lot of strong points and proposes a good offering. Staff was also great everywhere and I felt very welcome as a Diamond member. This hotel consists in a high tower (about 30 floors) on an island on Nile river downtown Cairo. There are more than 400 rooms in this hotel.

The main lobby :

I landed in CAI past midnight flying AF. Cairo never sleep but traffic was OK and the hotel was reached in 30 min. Hotel lobby was still busy at this late time and many French customers arrived just after me, obviously arrived on the same flight as me. The hotel was fully booked during my stay, so I was not super optimistic for upgrade, but I was wrong. I had booked a Premium room, king bed high floor, partial view on Nile river. I was upgraded to Luxury full Nile rive review. Drink voucher was given at check-in. I was explained the different facilities of the hotel, including the details for the Club Millésime.

Room was not huge but of decent size. Sufficient room for storage. On the opposite, bathroom was on the small side as you can see on the pictures. There was an armchair, a desk, safety box, bathrobes and slippers. Apart the small bathroom, another criticism I would make is to have only a kettle and tea bags/instant coffee. In a Sofitel, I clearly expect an espresso machine. There was a small balcony but you need to ask housekeeping to unlock the door. No welcome letter, but a welcome amenity consisting on a fruit basket and some small cakes (good).

Very nice panoramic view on the Nile.

The hotel proposes several bars and restaurants :

• the main restaurant where you have breakfast buffet and there is also a buffet/à la carte for lunch/dinner. This is the restaurant with the highest capacity. There are a few tables along the river and I have to say that having breakfast along the Nile was really very pleasant. I went there only for breakfast (you can have breakfast at the lounge, but being outside on the board of the Nile was so much better than being in the lounge IMHO. The buffet proposed a very large choice of cold and hot items. 2 stations for eggs, crepes, waffles, etc made on order.

• A bar with indoor and outdoor seating. Very pleasant also. Serves snacks/sandwiches and a few other meal options all day

• Pool bar serving also snacks all day
• a Morrocan restaurant
• an Arabic/Egyptian restaurant where I had dinner once : very good meal

• Club Millésime : located on the 26th floor. It’s basically 2 rooms that have been joined. One side is smoking, the other side non-smoking. Very nice view from there but not too many windows. You have the classical offering : breakfast, soft drinks all day, happy hour cocktail time from 17:30 to 19:30. During the happy hour, there is a nice and very good selection of canapés and warm food (chicken, beef arabic style). Unfortunately, you can’t check-in/out from the lounge.

View from the lounge :

There is a nice swimming pool overlooking the Nile, as well as a Spa and a sauna. There is also a casino and a hairdresser in the hotel.

Service and staff were truly excellent everywhere. My flight back to CDG was at 2 am (horrible !). I requested of course a late check out and got it until 16:00. I was allowed to stay at the lounge and benefit from the happy hour time. I stayed at the lounge until its closing time : 10 pm.

The hotel was very busy all the time but I never had an impression of being in a factory.

In conclusion, great stay. Can’t wait to return