Venice Hosokawaya

The balcony was a really chill spot to hang out in the authentic Egyptian way. This cute hostel is super clean, and the staff are incredibly friendly and nice. It's right in the middle of downtown, so the location is great.

You can have breakfast on the balcony in an Arabian style, with an excellent view. The hotel is close to the main street, though Uber couldn't find it. It's in an old building and isn't easy to locate, but the staff were fine and helpful. The bed and bathroom were fine compared with other places. I found the stairs up to the hotel dirty, though it's hard to find anything better in Egypt.

We booked a twin room for four nights, but the receptionist said on arrival that we needed documents proving we were married to stay there. I hadn't seen any rule like that when booking. He said it wasn't listed on the booking website, but that he was the manager and could refuse our stay. Maybe they were overbooked and had no room for us. We had no choice but to leave. We asked them to help us find another hostel, but they said they didn't have the phone number for any other one. We felt helpless. Luckily we found another place ourselves, much cheaper and much nicer. You can't even compare. You can check out Dahab Hostel. The hostel is in a shabby building, with no elevator. You have to walk up four levels to get there.

The staff are friendly, and there's a shared kitchen where you can leave your food, plus a refrigerator. The floor is very high, about the 4th floor. The bedroom isn't very clean, though the bed sheet is clean.