Hotel Review: Mercure Cairo Le Sphinx Hotel
I recently spent four days in Cairo/Giza, Egypt. While there I stayed in Giza at the Mercure Cairo Le Sphinx Hotel, a hotel that gets its name because of its proximity to the pyramids and sphinx.
Overall, the hotel was okay for the price. I paid $40 a night for a pyramid view room, which also had a balcony (although my friends who booked the same room did not have a balcony so it is not a guarantee). I can tell you that waking up to the Great Pyramid and Khafre Pyramid is absolutely stunning. If you arrive at night, you won’t be able to see the pyramids because they are not lit, contrary to what the pictures on the hotel website may show.
As far as the rooms, they were a standard hotel room. I will caution that the first night there, the smell of smoke was a great problem. We had to request a room change because the smell was so bad. The hotel accommodated this move, but simply moved us to another smoking room that smelled like cleaning products, which means I think they simply scrubbed it down to get the smell of smoke out of the room for us. Even with that cleaning, the smell of smoke was still present when the air conditioning was on high. I would make sure to request a smoking free room upon check-in in order to avoid this. Also, it is definitely worth paying a few dollars extra for a view of the pyramids.
The breakfast at the hotel, which was included in the reservation, was very large and a had a great deal of different foods. They had fruit, vegetables, omelets, eggs, breakfast meats, crepes, and other breakfast foods. The breakfast was definitely a great deal given the price of the hotel.
The concierge desk was very helpful at this hotel. We used their shuttle to/from the airport. The shuttle is contracted out and costs $40 American dollars, which is probably cheaper than what you would pay for a taxi given the horrible traffic on the route to the airport. They also have a contracted driver that will take you to local sites. We used this service to go to the Egyptian museum. It would have been possible to use a taxi as well, using the “Easy Taxi” app, but it was also a set price, and given the time of day were worried what a taxi with a meter would cost.
The Pyramid View Cafe is on the roof of the hotel. The staff at the cafe is incredibly friendly and very attentive. The meals there are moderately priced, and even better, their hookah (shisha…not to be confused with hashish) only costs 25 Egyptian Pounds, which is an incredible price compares to what you would pay in the United States.
Overall, I would say this place was good for the price that was paid. The positives are the views of the pyramids and the free breakfast. The major negatives would be that downtown Cairo can take over an hour to get to because of traffic and to be sure to ask for a non-smoking room.
