Cairo Plaza Hotel

The location is right in the city centre, but I felt unsafe here as a woman travelling alone. At check-in, the men at Reception were overly friendly and made comments about where I’m from and how nice women from there are. When I came down for toiletries, they suggested I call next time so they could bring them upstairs, and said they liked seeing me at Reception. It made me uncomfortable. The room door only had a regular key and couldn’t be locked from inside, so I couldn’t sleep. I was put on the second floor because they said it would be quieter than the floor with Reception, but people were still coming and going late, even around 2 a.m. There was nobody downstairs checking who entered, and the rooms were directly accessible. The bathroom was just a glass partition separating the toilet and shower from the bed. There was no toilet paper or soap, so I had to ask at Reception. They kept those items under the desk, which made it seem like you only got them if you asked. The hotel itself is dark and old. I’d read the Booking reviews before booking, and after staying here I can’t understand how anyone called it exceptional. I’d stayed in Zamalek before, where there are much better hotels for similar prices, and you won’t feel scared.

The breakfast Expedia calls “full” was one boiled egg, one piece of cheese and a tiny jar of jam. I found that misleading. The hotel is also listed there under two names, one of them Cairo Plaza Prime Hotel, and it has 75+ reviews with a 9/10 rating. I felt misled by that and wondered whether something unusual was going on with management. I paid over $300 for three nights, which I don’t think the place is remotely worth. On the same trip, another hotel cost $220 for three nights, including an open buffet breakfast, and its rooms and service were far better. This place doesn’t deserve even one star, especially for the price. The building is very old, with a steep set of stairs up to Reception on the first floor. Reception is so close to the rooms that its noise carried through the night. The toilet is in a tiny cabinet in the room next to the beds. When it’s used, it feels as if you’re in the bathroom too, and the smell spreads straight into the room. I later moved to another room where the toilet was a little farther away, about one meter, but there was a very strong bad smell outside, perhaps from a laundry or utility area. I had booked three nights on a non-refundable basis, but asked to stay just one night and get a refund for the rest. The hotel made excuses and told me to contact Expedia. I spent a lot of time with Expedia customer service; they tried several times by phone and email, but the hotel ignored them. The hotel later said it had never received anything from Expedia, which I find hard to believe. I was made to stay all three nights, and it ruined my trip. I strongly don’t recommend this hotel.

I paid for five nights when I arrived around midnight, but left the very next morning after a few sleepless hours. Despite several requests, they wouldn’t process a refund. I just went. It’s on the second and third floors of a dirty, run-down building near a major road, and you have to carry your own bags up the stairs. The room was small, with no wardrobe or mirror. I was on the second floor and had to leave my room to get WiFi. There are dirty, smelly bins in the corridors, and the bedding reeked of cigarette smoke. The bathroom is so badly laid out that bathing floods the room, then you have to step through the water to use the toilet. The photos don’t represent the place, and it appears online under three different names, so finding directions can be difficult. Somehow Booking.com gives it four stars, which is terribly misleading. There isn’t a lower star rating to give. This isn’t a hotel, it’s a dirty boarding house.

The location details on the booking site were no help, and the place wasn’t properly marked, so it was hard to find. They call it a four-star hotel, but that’s a lie. You get the sort of room you’d expect for the price. The toilet seat was broken, mosquitoes were in the room and the TV didn’t work. They claim WiFi is available everywhere, but that wasn’t true. If you only need somewhere to sleep and don’t care about the rest, go ahead. Otherwise, I don’t recommend it at all.