Shepheard Hotel

We booked for 3 nights, left after 2. October 2007. Ramadan had just finished. We have travelled more than 30 countries and have experienced many hotels. This hotel needs work. It is owned by Egyptians and is not well run these days. Reception are helpful, just, but not prepared to go the extra (inch!) to help. I tried. Positives: Price, well, we live in Egypt so got a standard room for US$145 incl. taxes through our travel agent. It is a 10 minute easy walk to the museum. It has great views from the Nile side upper rooms.<br... more

I stayed at the Shepheard, formerly called the Helnan Shepheard for five nights at the end of February 2007. The location is absolutely ideal and that is the only reason I booked it. At check-in, I asked for a quiet room away from the traffic noise. The room I had was very comfortable if a little dated. I slept well. That I am afraid is the end of the good news. The reception desk staff were unbelievably slow. Just getting one`s room key back was a major achievement so I stopped handing it in. I told them the day before... more

After 3 nights of misery at Maadi Hotel, we transferred over to Hotel Shepheard during our extension stay. The lobby was classy and the room was huge. We had a Nile View room and the view was spectacular. The toilet was spacious and even came with a washing bowl. There were 2 queen beds and a huge dressing corner. Breakfast was a widespread and coffee and tea were served personally to you. We were really happy with it and should we visit Cairo again, we would definitely return to Shepheard!

Our tour group booked into the Shepheard Hotel on May 2 and then again on May 7. Our rooms were more than adequate, actually very good. The food was excellant and the staff were very accommodating. On our May 7th stay we had a celebration dinner to wind down our trip and the kitchen prepared a wonderful layer cake for our Priest's Anniversary . The hotel is a very nice place to stay with lots of charm.

The excitement of our first business trip to Cairo was overshadowed by the horrible experience we had at the Shepheard hotel. The view of the Nile from the hotel was incredible. Unfortunately, that was the only positive aspect of the hotel. Housekeeping would go through the motions of making the beds and possibly replacing the towels, but that was it. Dirt - that they caused from knocking off a floor board and exposing a nail - remained on the floor for days before they vacuumed it. At the end of our stay, the housekeeping... more

We stayed at the Helnan Shepheard for four nights last spring at the end of April in 2006. We stayed there for one night right after we got into Egypt from Canada, but we had an early flight the next morning to Aswan where we caught our Nile cruise. We returned to the Helnan after our cruise for three more nights in Cairo. The Helnan is an ok hotel. The rooms are spacious, beds decent, but the decor is kind of tacky in my opinion. I know that's not really a big deal for some, but for me I do appreciate having a room that is pleasing... more

We stayed at the Shepheard for 2 nights which was a big mistake. The main positive point was the location, very convenient and safe. BUT...the service is incredibly poor. We didn't get a non-smoking room even though we requested it in advance (the hotel only has 5 non-smoking rooms). The actual rooms are very old with uncomfortable beds (the springs on the beds were poking through the mattress and gave us backaches). All this would have been ok since we weren't spending much time in the hotel anyways. The worst part of the stay... more

We stayed here for several days in 2 different rooms. As others have mentioned, the rooms were very large and the beds quite comfortable. It would be improved if there were a reading light on both sides of the double beds, but there was just one light on the table between the two beds. Water pressure and temperature were fine. The built-in cabinet and closet were exceptionally large and convenient. The first room we stayed in was close to the hvac and rather noisy, but the second room was quiet. Neither provided a Nile view, and... more

My wife and I had a double room with a reasonable Nile view in the Shepheard at a discounted rate of $US 110 per night (as part of a conference package deal) for a week in July 2006. We arrived to check in at around 2 am in the morning, feeling rather tired and flustered after a rather unpleasant taxi-ride from the airport. The lobby was still busy -and smokey- and we were left waiting for several minutes before the check-in was completed. Service was perfunctory and not especially friendly- and nobody made much effort to welcome us to... more

The staff (porters, cleaners, waiters) are friendly and efficient, but the management is unhelpful to guests if anything goes wrong during their stay in Cairo. A colleague of mine needed their help for - thankfully - a minor matter, but I would shudder to think of their response if it had been a serious situation. He left a digital camera behind in a taxi. This was no fault of the hotel, nor did my colleague hold the hotel in any way responsible. However, for his insurance claim, he needed the hotel to provide a brief letter stating... more