After two nights at Mena House I wanted to move closer to the city centre to experience the “real” Cairo. As we mentioned before, there are many luxury hotels in Cairo, but most of them including the Ritz Carlton look very tired. St Regis however, was opened as lately as 2021 which makes it the go-to if you want to try something new.
Same with many other hotels, the St Regis is built near the Niles, and on the north side. It takes around 30 minutes to walk to the Egyptian Museum, but only half of the path is covered by a proper river passage when we visited.
The very prominent Hilton Ramses sign caught my eyes on way to the St Regis. The Hilton hotel used to cost only 10,000 points a night, a star in Hilton’s program before all the devaluation started. Now it has increased to 30,000 points. The hotel has just undergone a major revamp however and I heard it’s now very nice.
St Regis on the other hand, is rather low-key and not as easy to spot.
It’s the same design principle inside – subtle but definitely upscale luxury. It also smells very good.
Reception is on level 5. I responded to the welcome email mentioning noon arrival and did online check-in the day before. As early as 7am on the day, I received a push notification saying that the room was ready.
Upon arrival we were immediately escorted to sitting down on the sofa and offered drinks of our choice. A member of staff then came over to process our check-in.
I need a double double room, the St Regis has only one room type to accommodate that, so I was not expecting any upgrade. To my very pleasant surprise, they upgraded us straightaway to a two-bedroom apartment on level 28!
From what I see in the online discussions, they usually upgrade Marriott elites to the St Regis Suite or Metropolitan Suite. I’m probably specially lucky because I need a room with two beds?
Upon entering the apartment, you’ll see a big foyer in front with two wardrobes. Turn right for the kitchen.
It is a very well-equipped kitchen. For a tourist that stays only one night however, the only thing useful here is the coffee machine.
Continue to the living room:
Per St Regis’s brand standard, concierge service is available to all guests. We ordered two cups of coffee from the concierge which we enjoyed along with the welcome snacks.
You’ll find the two bedrooms on the left. The master bedroom has a king bed.
The master bedroom itself is larger than many hotel rooms. It has its own walk-in closet and bathroom.
The second bedroom has a very similar layout but two beds instead. It has a bathroom too.
The apartment can easily accommodate five persons. As you can see however, the specs are quite different to that of a regular hotel room, so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
The living room and both bedrooms feature balconies or floor-to-ceiling windows, where you can admire the beauty of Niles and downtown Cairo.
A third bathroom:
Two nice touches: universal sockets on the wall, and the brightness of all lights are adjustable.
One nuisance: the hotel has three kinds of guest lifts, each going to different floors – guest rooms (level 18 and below), apartments (level 19-29) and offices (floor 30 and above). There’s no signage around the lifts and I got lost more than once!
Gym and swimming pools are at level 7.
The rooftop pool is a good place to chill, but it’s too small to swim especially with the playful kids. The indoor pool is a lot bigger and quieter:
Spa facilities can be found at level 6, which is separate for men and women.
They’ve got multiple choices here: whirlpool, sauna, steam room, ice room, and “shock shower”.
Breakfast is served at the La Zisa restaurant on floor 5.
There’s no a-la-carte option but the buffet spread is huge. The section extends from one end of the restaurant to the other.
To cater to their guests from Asia, there are dedicated Japanese and Chinese cuisine areas, offering fried rice & noodles, sushi, miso soup and gyoza.
Service-wise – the front desk boy was very gentle with nice smiles, the concierge explained everything about the hotel in details, and the porter was quite chatty giving us tips about our next destination. I felt warmly welcomed throughout the stay.
St Regis Cairo is a true luxury hotel that stands up to the reputation. If you leave the hotel and walk just five minutes however, you’ll find yourself amongst the locals and that is a completely different world. The contrast you get in and out of a hotel at Cairo is quite interesting and is talked about by almost every tourist.
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