Check-in took an unnecessarily long 20-25 minutes, as our host was preoccupied speaking in Arabic with two employees who, by contrast, were efficiently helping other guests in just 5-7 minutes.
After finally checking in, we entered a warm room with no functioning AC. The first technician who came suggested we "increase the temperature and wait 10 minutes" – an absurd solution. Frustrated, I called the front desk again, and a proper technician resolved the issue in 5 minutes.
Next came the ordeal of connecting to the hotel’s Internet. It should have been simple: enter my last name and room number. Instead, we had no connection. Worse yet, I was repeatedly promised IT help, only to have two hotel employees arrive and, without permission, touch my laptop while questioning the spelling of my last name.
What made matters worse was the lack of attentiveness during check-in. I was traveling with a family member in a wheelchair.
Later, I was taking a relaxing bath with the beautiful view – but my room was located directly in front of a prayer tower. While I respect cultural norms, the loud calls to prayer starting as early as 5:00 AM and continuing throughout the day until 6:45 PM. Westerners: avoid 5th floor rooms facing Nile River.
Also the hotel-provided hair dryer didn’t fit the room’s outlets. Next day, our Muslim neighbours started singing loud, clapping with also very loud music at 4 AM. Breakfast that you pay extra had bad sour coffee, bad food, next day they changed chef.
