Upgrade to Mena or not

[mikewrit]

Ramses offers Mercure le Sphinx as part of a Cairo overnight package. Upgrading to Mena House Oberoi is $50 pp extra. Mercure is just up the street from Mena and offers rooms with dandy pyramid views, but Mena clearly has the edge in ambiance. Thoughts?

[cruisemom42]

In the end I think it comes down to personal preference. I'm sure either choice will be a fine one. It just depends whether the history and ambience of the Mena House appeals to you enough that you want to experience it.

 

In many places I'm fine staying in a hotel that has the basic niceties, especially if I'm not going to have much down time. There are a few places where a particular hotel has caught my imagination for whatever reason, and staying there seems almost a destination in itself. The Mena House is one of these hotels for me, as is the Grande Bretagne in Athens.

 

You might want to read this recent report from someone who stayed at Mena House:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=29595631&postcount=15

[mikewrit]

Many thanks for the link, Cynthia. Makes the decision even tougher. Part of it is that Ramses has put together two days so jammed full of things that we'll be lucky to be able to even see the pillow at the hotel by the time we get there on Day 1, and Day 2 hardly allows for a second cup of coffee at breakfast, much less a liesurely stroll through the royal gardens.

[roscoe39]

Many thanks for the link, Cynthia. Makes the decision even tougher. Part of it is that Ramses has put together two days so jammed full of things that we'll be lucky to be able to even see the pillow at the hotel by the time we get there on Day 1, and Day 2 hardly allows for a second cup of coffee at breakfast, much less a liesurely stroll through the royal gardens.

 

Hi., I was at the Mena house in April last year, they were undergoing a massive renovation which I assume will be finished by now..it included most of the modern accomodations and the pool area although the conference rooms restaurants and Palace part of the hotel where we were were unaffected.

 

Ive been to Egypt now 8 times, this is still one of my all time favourite hotels in the world.

 

I stayed at the Hotel originally in 1990 and it was an incredible hotel with great staff who couldnt do enough for you. Im pretty sure that the renovations will only enhance that experience. I would stay there again in a heartbeat, especially considerring the history of the hotel. None of the modern hotels seem to have the same atmosphere as this or my other favourite, the Omar Kahyan hotel (Marriot) in town.

 

Although these hotels in Giza are close to the pryimids, I find the Marriott in town a better option, most of the sites you want to visit apart from Giza are easier to get to. But...you wont go wrong by paying the extra and staying at the Mena House.

 

Let us know what you decide....

 

regards Roscoe

 

(ps. Just read the review mentioned above and it was spot on)

[havcamwiltravel]

Hi., I was at the Mena house in April last year, they were undergoing a massive renovation which I assume will be finished by now..it included most of the modern accomodations and the pool area although the conference rooms restaurants and Palace part of the hotel where we were were unaffected.

(ps. Just read the review mentioned above and it was spot on)

Hi Mikewrit, the building and renovations that Roscoe mentions were just about done last month and (from comparisons to pictures from the past) they have added so much to the already abundant charms of the Mena House.

 

They have also indefinitely postponed the renovations to the Palace section rooms so everything should be open.

 

We had been offered some significant savings by our tour company to stay at the Movenpick Pyramids, when we were to return to Cairo on our fifth day. It was a beautiful hotel that we thoroughly enjoyed but there is no doubt that we had been spoiled so much by the Mena House that comparisons left the Movenpick wanting in every way. We both thought it was a shame, because the Movenpick was great ... but we still had an immovable fresh memory of the beauty and luxury of the Mena House in our minds.

 

As I had written in a previous post, the 2-day ship's excursion is so jam-packed that when we were scheduled to cruise to Egypt, we had decided that we would spend our only evening at the Mena House to explore and enjoy the r&r; especially having read that so many cruisers considered that both the Sound & Light Show and the Nile Cruise were "skippable". Even if you are only there for only one night, I would expect that when you return home, you will consider the extra fifty bucks to have been money very well spent.

 

Now, at home, enjoying the memories of our trip, we both remember our stay at the Mena House as a significant highlight.

[mikewrit]

Waves of temptation! Surely this is our last shot at Cairo together. DH was there for a week more than a decade ago with two dozen fellow editorial writers, based at the Nile Hilton and spent most of the time traveling to listen to politicians and political figures. Did the pyramids in one fast afternoon, an hour of which was a "rest stop" at a papyrus shop, never even heard mention of Mena House, dagnabit! We'll be locked in if another couple or two sign up for our Ramses tour sans Mena.

[cruisinggranmama]

Stayed at the Mena House for two nights in 2008 while on a Nile river Cruise.

 

It was a highlight of the cruise. We woke up both mornings to see the pyramids through our balcony doors. A great way to start our cruise. Really put me in the mood.

 

The palace sections is really incredible. I had read of the Mena House in many novels of Egypt that I have read. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.

 

I know nothing about the other hotel you mentioned, but I know you would love the Mena,

[Nebr.cruiser]

We stayed at the Mena House and it was wonderful--even though our rooms were in the 'new' section, not the palace; it sounds like the newer part has been renovated now; it was very nice back in the mid-nineties when we stayed there.

 

Some in our tour group were lucky enough to get palace rooms with direct pyramid views--and boy, are they close. Absolutely unforgettable when lit up at night. We had to step outside to see them.

 

I bet the other hotel is fine too, but if the $100 extra isn't too big a deal, the Mena House has the dramatic and historic ambiance that is hard to beat. Plus, it's always nice to see a hotel we actually stayed at on lists of the world's best hotels!