Golden Palace Hotel

The staff were friendly and helped organize tours. Breakfast was delicious, and the elevators are unusual and cool. The hotel is in the heart of Giza, with a movie theater next door. I walked to the Citadel and the Hanging church from there. I recommend Wadi El Hatim and the waterfall. Booking a visit to the Pyramids or the new Grand Museum through the hotel can spare you the nightmare of dealing with aggressive tour companies, many of which are scams trying to upsell you anything they can.

Finding the entrance was difficult, and it didn’t feel safe. The whole building smelled strongly and unpleasantly. It looked like parking was available, but there wasn’t any, and it took us almost an hour to find a paid garage nearby. The room looked nothing like the photos. We chose to leave without staying a night, and I politely asked for a refund. Staff told me to contact Booking, so I thought they’d approve it, but they didn’t. They charged the full amount and refunded nothing. A complete disappointment, I absolutely don’t recommend it.

We arrived at 2 a.m. for a two-night stay booked through agoda, but the hotel couldn’t find our reservation and said they didn’t work with agoda. After we spent half an hour explaining and showing proof, they said our room had leakage problems and sent us to another hotel in the middle of the night. The building felt dark, empty, and eerie, like it had been abandoned for 100 years. The old manual lift looked straight out of the 1920s, and nobody was around to guard or help us when we were taken to the fourth floor. The next morning, the other hotel kept calling us to leave and return to the first place. It was a terrible, stressful, unprofessional experience. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

The rooms are kept sparkling clean by experienced, well-mannered staff. Even with the busy surroundings, they’re peaceful, and the facilities work well. The hotel is in the heart of Cairo town, though the building itself is old.