Guest reviews Marriott Mena House, Cairo

by A444XV_

giza pyramids

I visited the pyramids of Giza, in a hotel called Marriott Mena House, Cairo, this is really the best place I have visited, It is always great to stay here. I like to have breakfast in front of the pyramids. The pool is really amazing. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Food quality and cuisine need improvement and attention. Will definitely repeat my stay.

by Artemis_Buffington Chicago, Illinois

Fit for a Pharaoh

This was my second stay at Marriott Mena House. It was! The first time, I was just a child. Mother, having fallen in love with Omar Sharif after seeing him act in Sleepless, and determined to seduce the young actor, dragged Bippy and me to Cairo (Pan Am, first class). Did she succeed, you ask? We'll I've no idea, but mind you me: She rarely failed. But back to the Marriott Mena House. I distinctly recall that we visited in 1957, as it was the inaugural year of the International Red Cross Ball. Only days before the gala, Bippy and I'd come upon Mother screaming at the top of her lungs in a loggia at the Bath and Tennis Club — she was literally beside herself — after encountering Uncle Rubi, who was to escort her to the ball. He'd brought that dreadful new-monied Odile woman to the B&T, and announced they'd wed! They had! Oh how Barbara and Doris reveled in Mother's humiliation. Well, you know Mother: She was not — and she wasn't — standing for it. She marched us straight out-of-doors, and we followed Rubi's Candy-Apple-Red Ferrari onto South Ocean and, at the first set of stoplights, Mother slammed her foot onto the gas "...?" Why yes, you read my mind, lamb. A little hair of the dog never hurt anyone. Never. But are you pouring Blutwurz bitters? You know I cannot — and will not — abide a bad batch of bitters. Only Blutwurz bitters make my Bombay bluebirds better. pedal, ramming our S1 straight into his prize coupe. Then she reversed the car and did it again! She did! Well I was fine — if not a tad traumatized (to this day, in my somato-emotional release sessions, I still relive the event) — but that afternoon marked the onset of poor Bippy's pubis fibrosis, and he's never been quite the same since, has he? As I was saying, before that barkeep so rudely interrupted, I've visited the Marriott Mena House twice, most recently in December. Shall I gift you with my assessment? I shall! PROS: • Location, location, location. It's a five-minute walk to the Pyramids • Gorgeous room. I was upgraded to a room in the older wing (nearest the original lobby). Loved it. It was spacious with a walk-in closet large bathroom. One wall in the bathroom and in the bedroom was almost all window, allowing in plenty of natural light. The space was quiet (except for the mini-fridge, which I unplugged) and dark (with the exception of the blinking light on the smoke alarm affixed over the bed). The decor was the best part. The floor and part of the bathroom were tiled in large slabs of marble. There were many Moorish accents, such as a keyhole-shaped mirror and intricately etched wooden doors. The bathroom furnishings were made of stone, and the counter was inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Original artwork hung on the walls • Super-comfortable bed. Excellent pillows and linen (finally: an Egyptian hotel with a top sheet!) • Friendly staff. Thanks to Habiba at the front desk and Ali at the door. Engineering was very responsive • Good value. I booked one night with only 20,000 Bonvoy points (you can never be too rich or too frugal, I always say) • Complimentary access to executive lounge with Bonvoy status (my status is Double-Secret, Triple-Platinum) • Gratis fruit plate and sweets • Good water pressure in shower; hot, hot water • This hotel has history CONS • Afore-mentioned blinking light over bed • Room didn't heat very well • Original lobby was under construction, so there wasn't a comfortable place to hang out • My sliding-glass-door lock didn't work (which is concerning considering that I was on the first floor), but Engineering fixed it quickly when I called them • 139 Restaurant lacks ambience. Indian restaurant and Italian restaurant were dead (but it was only 6:00 p.m.)

by ElhamyR Cairo, Egypt

Wonderful View and Amazing Pool

Always great to stay here. I like having breakfast in-front of the pyramids. Pool is really amazing. Staff is very friendly and helpful even in these challenging times. They have strict saftey precautions in place which make our stay safe and carefree. Food quality and kitchen needs improvement and attention. Will definitely repeat my stay.

by Boarding_gate123 Helsinki, Finland

Faded grandeur: updating of both room and service standards needed

My husband and I stayed in a deluxe room with a view for four nights in August 2019 while touring Egypt. Positives: - good wifi (they try to sell you "complimentary wifi" upon check-in by paying for an upgrade. This is pretty much a scam since wifi was complimentary regardless of whether you pay for an upgrade or not.) - good and large breakfast buffet - the view to the pyramids. Not all "view rooms" are the same, though. We arrived late at night and were told by the porter we'd have a "great view". The next morning we were happy to see the pyramids but noticed, upon walking around the hotel, that some rooms had amazing views, others less so. - Negatives: - disgusting shower (see photo), which really needs to be modernized. - lousy refilling of the complimentary water. One day 1, we received water, on days 2&3 nothing, until we on the 3rd day enquired about this from the member of housekeeping who was hanging about in the hallway. He then literally stalked us for the rest of the day trying to elicit a tip for a job he should have done in the first place. On the fourth day, there were again lots of complimentary water. - housekeeping left our balcony doors unlocked every single time they'd been in our room. This was both annoying and unsafe. - the pool was taken over by a very loud and obnoxious football team of adults and children. It was therefore completely impossible to relax by the pool. - the lobby smelled mouldy. In regards to the location, the hotel is obviously perfectly situated for the pyramids. However, it's over an hour-long drive to central Cairo and the traffic is the scariest I've experienced anywhere in the world (combine Indian and Turkish traffic, and multiply that by a thousand, and you still won't get anywhere near how scary it was....). We witnessed, among other things, a guy on his motorcycle and without a helmet, going in the other direction on the motorway (where our taxi was going 110 km/hr), who was hit by a car and was sent flying up in the air in an arch, landing on the motorway. Think hard about whether it is more important for you to be close to the pyramids or whether you want to be close to all the restaurants of Cairo, because experiencing the drive back and forth between the city center and hotel multiple times will make you go crazy. In conclusion, although the common areas are beautiful, the hotel seems to live on its nice location and views to the pyramids. Updating of both room and service standards are urgently needed.

by richardbE4536FI

Wonderful experience

We always stay at the Mena House which was a sultans hunting lodge, more like a gold plated mansion. We get the pyramid view and have our morning coffee on the deck of out room facing the pyramids and watch the camels and horse drawn carriages moving in front of us. Service is always excellent, but this was before the Marriott took it over, so I don't know if it changed, but we were going to stay there again this June unless the virus stops us. We want to tour the new museum behind the pyramids and saw the old one in Cairo twice. We stayed at the Mena House five times over the years and hopefully will be there again. Staff remembers us and are extremely friendly and helpful. They used to have two large dining rooms with very good food and entertainment (they have others w/o entertainment), but closed them, I believe, because of lack of tourists. They opened a large modern one where we have breakfast before touring, but it isn't the old looking atmosphere.