Nile Palace Steigenberger Hotel

Superb good quality food, friendly staff, stunning view of the Nile. Recommend to couples, families. Wonderful stay.

We arrived back 12/09/07. This hotel ticks all the right boxes, FANTASTIC!!
I was very wary about going to Egypt but we are now planning to go to Sharm next year and then in 2009 we are going to go back to Luxor to the same hotel Nile Palace.
There is not a wrong word to be said about this place. We made some very good Egyptian friends over at The Kings Head, who we are keeping in touch with, and this is why we are to go back in 2009.
We flew to Cairo a long day but not to be missed, had an early start on a hot air balloon, once you get over the fear factor it is out of this world!
We have also left enough sightseeing to do on our next trip. I would advise not to go in the hotter months (I can usually cope with a hot climate but 47 is abit extreme even for myself) we are planning Oct for 2009.
Hassle is a big big issue, not so much outside the hotel area as they get used to you, but when we went into the main area of Luxor you do get A LOT. So be aware.
Over all I highly recommend Luxor and The Nile Palace. Enjoy!

3 readers found this review helpful

Fantastic! We booked B&B at the Nile Palace and we can’t fault it. It had excellent air con, a must as the temp was between 40 and 52 degrees every day. There is a safety deposit box in the room for your valuables, there were two double beds, big airy rooms, and balcony with table and chairs, shower worked well, room was spotless and cleaned every day. Breakfast was buffet style and had fresh fruit, yoghurt, cereal, breads, toast, hot meats, cold meats, cheeses, omelettes and eggs cooked to order, unlimited tea and coffee, fruit juice, etc, excellent stuff. The staff were so polite and friendly, nothing was too much trouble, the pool was brilliant, loads of sunbeds (padded!) and clean towels given to you daily. Loads of umbrellas and the pool side bar did a service where they brought everything to you. The pool was really warm. The food in the poolside bar was lovely, and same prices you would pay back here. There were three restaurants in the hotel and we ate in all of them, the manager of the Lebanese one was really nice. The wine in the hotel was expensive, with the cheapest bottle being £14 and the spirit measures were tiny! It is much cheaper to eat out at restaurants along the strip. There were some great places, John and Johns, Maximes and Snobs were good. The waiter in Snobs was entertaining doing magic tricks whilst we waited. The price of a meal for two is between £8 and £16 depending on what you have. Steak for example was about £4. Wine outside the hotel is about £7.The food was lovely. What the tour reps don’t prepare you for is the in your face hassle when you leave the hotel. The local Egyptians drive horses and carriages (Egyptian Ferraris) and there are taxis too. We used the horse and carriage and your driver will take you to the Egyptian Market, be aware though that he will meet his friends along the way who will try to sell you things (boat trips, souvenirs) Be firm but polite and they are ok with that. Despite the locals hassling you and following you down the street (even the kids do it) No-one actually touched us to try and sell anything. There are lots of police around but they seem to eye up the European girls as much as the locals do. If you are blonde haired and blue eyed look out! Be careful when you purchase stuff as you could end up paying a lot of money for absolute tat. Tipping, we tipped about 20 Egyptian pounds £2 of our money which is nothing to us but a lot to them. We left the tip on the bed for the cleaner and tip the pool boy on your first day you will get good sunbeds all week. Don’t tip the mini bar man, we made the mistake of tipping him on the first night as he was hanging around so obviously waiting for a tip, the next night we turned him away at the door and he came back an hour later to try again. The third day we put the do not disturb sign on the door and the cheeky so and so phoned our room to see if he could come up. So I complained and we didn’t see him again. There was an air conditioned gym for those of you that wish to use it, and go up to the roof to check out the view. We went to Luxor Museum, I enjoyed it but my other half wasn’t so enamoured, I find it fascinating but admittedly it wasn’t the best museum I've been too. We also went to Crocodile Island and Banana Island on a trip up the Nile which was lovely on the sunset. For those of you that smoke, local fags are about 50p a packet and Marlboro lights were £8 for 200. Lambert and Butler were £17 a packet so they were cheaper at Gatwick. On the way out of Egypt at Luxor B&H were £11 for 200 but they didn’t do Lambert and Butler or Super kings. The only downside was the entertainment, there was nothing for kids, and the hotel laid on the same entertainment every evening which consisted of a troupe of dancers who didn’t appear very enthusiastic about their job. There were lots of trips laid on by the tour operators but it was cheaper to go across the road as there was a tour operator there. It costs about £5 to get an air conditioned car (taxi) from the hotel to the airport. I would def recommend the Nile Palace and Luxor to others, it was a beautiful place. If you do go you will have a fabulous time.

1 reader found this review helpful

I really enjoyed my holiday at the Nile Palace and was far better than I expected. I would certainly recommend this to anyone and everyone!
The staff there were fantastic and was so polite and for me made the holiday what it was, brilliant.
I cannot praise the hotel enough.
The hotel is situated close to everything I wanted to see, it was very clean and tidy and I can’t wait to go back.

This was the first time I have been to Egypt and I had not had any recommendations from anyone. I travelled with my Dad and his friend.
The Nile Palace is an excellent hotel and I would recommend it to anyone. The staff are great and the facilities are brilliant. The hotel itself looks amazing.
The location was great too, not being far from Luxor and Karnak temples and the Luxor museum and the Valley of the King only a 15 minute drive away.

2 readers found this review helpful

This was my second visit to sunny Egypt. First time I stayed in Sharm and had a great time, but this really is a beach holiday.
After many recommendations I decided to brave a trip to Luxor. I travelled with my friend, two youngish girls together and not once did I feel out of my depth. I won’t deny, you do get hassled for everything to visiting shops and restaurants to hiring taxis and horse and carts, but you do get used to it!!
The hotel and its facilities were fantastic along with the staff, especially Mohammed the waiter, and Ashraf the pool attendant.
The hotel is in a central location, an opposite two British named pubs for those who prefer home from home,(the kings head and the red lion).
We managed to do many trips off our own accord, we haggled a price with the local taxi drivers and just paid an entry fee to the attractions, Luxor museum with its mummies and Karnak temple by night are well worth a visit. And with the temperature a
glorious 43degrees every day, what more can I say.
I even managed to avoid upset stomach syndrome by not having ice in drinks and minimising the salad with meals, believe me I've never eaten so much, there is a lot of choice from Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian to good ole burger and chips.
I am planning a trip back later in the year. Hope you all enjoy it too!

This hotel has to be in my eyes one of the best, cleanest and friendliest hotel I have ever stayed in.
With a range of different little shops selling near enough everything you could possibly need for your holiday. There are plenty of different types of food to choose from, which is not ever priced and is of a very high standard.
This hotel also offers a variety of entertainment all within the premises and there is a nice size pool area surrounded by a bar and small outdoor restaurant.
The rooms are well sized very clean and all with air conditioning, I managed to get upgraded last year which basically gave me a Nile view room which was spectacular to see when the sun came up first thing in the morning.
The only bad moment I noticed was when another couple that we met in Gatwick airport, and then went on to spend the whole holiday with, had a large wooden parasol fall onto her leg.
The hotel staff were so helpful and could not do more to help during this unforeseen circumstance.

Overall I still recommend and rate this hotel very high and this is why I, my partner and the same couple that we had met the previous year have booked to go again in may 2007.
I hope this has been a great insight to what to expect with this fabulous hotel in a fantastically friendly and beautiful part of Egypt.

1 reader found this review helpful

Le Meridien Luxor is one of the most brilliant hotels I have ever stayed in. The service was excellent even when we were a touch demanding (on the first few mornings there were works going on out with the hotel which were quite noisy very early in the morning and we were moved to a different room as soon as we mentioned this, as well as being given the option to move again if we had wanted) Both rooms we stayed in were gorgeous and well proportioned with lots of room in built in wardrobes for our cases.
Room service was also very good, lots of soups and snacks and meals if desired and they were all sent up very very fast with a nice man coming to collect shortly after. (He got quite a lot of baksheesh during our stay)
The food in the hotel was incredible with a choice from several different restaurants, only downside was the food was a touch on the expensive side, as was all alcohol! I highly recommend popping your head into the Ritz restaurant which is practically next door (when leaving turn right from the hotel past the Chinese restaurant and right again into the next alley where the Ritz is on the Left slightly disguised by trees)
The Ritz, unlike its namesake, is possibly the cheapest yet best place I have ever eaten. There was a great selection of food and soups were no more than 50p with lots of lovely homemade warm bread and main meals were never more than £3. It took me and my partner until the last night of our two week holiday to spend more than £10 on one meal and that was because we had lots of wine.
A lot of guests sunbathe by the pool but don’t forget to try the roof as there is unblocked sun all day and most guests didn't seem to have noticed it, possibly because we were supposed to pay but we never did and no one said otherwise!?!
Only downside to whole hotel was entertainment program, basically there wasn't one, the same show was replayed every night with cheesy UK music, celine dion, eagles, jenifer rush on repeat. But we learnt to eat out while the show was on.
As long as you have the guts to say no, Luxor is one of the best destinations in the world, tell yourself before you go that you don’t want a ride on a felluca or on one of the horse carriages which are smelly and the horses are treated badly and you will have the holiday of a lifetime.
ps. Menfadlek Emshi means please go away in Arabic, a little bit of politeness and their language does tend to get them to leave you be.

Staying at this hotel was quite pleasant. However I was ill during my stay however I am still not sure weather this was from the food in Cairo. The local restaurants are very good, there are MacDonald’s and pizza hut just down the road.
There is also a nice one down a backstreet that I can't remember the name of. Most of the staff were very kind and helpful, however there is one member that was scary and seemed very unpleasant.
The rooms are large and airy, with lots of night time entertainment. There is a boat port form the hotel which is on the banks of the nile, that is very useful.

As I do on many visits to Luxor I stay at as many hotels as possible to compare different ratings. First time to the Nile Palace hotel (formerly the le meriden hotel).
Ownership was transferred to Nile Palace about 3 months ago but have found out through many tour operators that they still sell it under its former name.
The first room I experienced was a city room standard. Very cosy spacious and a nice balcony with sun from early to about noon. Large bathroom and ample space for clothes in the wardrobes and dressers. 10/10
The second room was the dynasty suite with a Nile view this tends to be rooms 418/419 as they have a front door which can be made into a larger room. Again beautiful fantastic view across the Nile. A few disappointments though if you are sunbathing on your balcony watch out for the hot ash sinders dropping on your balcony from the shisha corner below. 9/10
Room service via Mohamed and Ahmed was excellent both for breakfast in the morning and snack complimentary in the afternoon.
Last 4 days of my holiday I had taken a tour of the hotel with the front office manager Mr. Ehab Fouad, very courteous man and all staff on reception exceptionally courteous also including Ahmed, Madgy and Safeya. 10/10 I was shown the diplomatic suite on floor 5 and the presidential suite on floor 4.
For my last 4 days I stayed at the presidential suite again what can I say but sheer luxury.
Rates at the Nile Palace are excellent esp if you arrive unexpected and get a rack rate.
10/10
Entertainment:
This was in the main courtyard in the middle of the hotel, could do with a bit more variation as the routines are the same night after night. 08/10
Restaurants in courtyard are Lebanese and Italian both very pleasant and wonderfully cooked meals, no stomach upsets from this food. 9/10
Tropicana restaurant by the pool-well this is where the hotel is let down, unfortunately for myself a friend and another friend who represents the worldwide food marketing board what a let down. The food is well presented and good prices for a 5***** hotel but to order food that is not fit for human consumption well that is another issue.
Day 1.
Do not eat the English style fish & chips this is nothing like you will get back at home. The fish is in batter but is hard and tasteless and that’s if you get any fish in between the batter after they have cooked it.
Day 2.
Tried again 2 days later and decided to have the pizza far east chicken and herbs pizza, well all I can say is gristle, the chicken was uncooked pink and the pizza was also uncooked, to be polite we did eat a little but that evening was a total ruin by the sickness and vomiting resulting in trying to be polite.
The restaurant manager Abdula told us sorry can do anything about it would you like a coffee or tea on the house nice gesture but too late in my opinion. Both meals were reported to the food and beverages manager who said that several complaints had come in about the standard of food served there and they were looking into way to rectify the problem. 3/10
Pool service on the other hand was again excellent nothing any trouble to do and on a positive note we end this report with 9/10.
Overall:
The hotel scores still highly it just has a few small details to attend to as many other hotels of the same caliber. 9/10