Description: The hotel Longchamps is a hotel set on the upper floors of a 1940s apartment block in leafy Zamalek. It is a beautifully appointed three-star hotel and very well run by the proprietress, Hebba Bakri.
She knows exactly how to run a hotel efficiently and is nearly always on hand to help or to make suggestions: she always tells you "as it is" and doesn't allow you to be hoodwinked by any of the scams. She wants you to enjoy your stay and understands that a satisfied guest is one that returns and recommends. Once, when I’d an eye infection she INSISTED on her own pharmacist sending the required boric acid and eye drops to my room...I'm still waiting to be asked to pay for the medicine.
The staff are just as helpful and most have been with the Longchamps for years (now that says something). All European languages are catered for and there are two delightful terraces to enjoy as well as a bar and restaurant.
The hotel is unashamedly three-star and so ideal for budget-conscious travellers, but the welcome and the friendliness puts the five-star corporate hotels to shame - returning to the hotel after an absence of nearly a year, I was recognised by name by nearly all the staff, even down to the way I drank my coffee.
The Longchamps is THE hotel in Cairo, and as a hotelier myself this means clean, friendly and safe. The Longchamps is for me a "home from home." Travellers to Cairo with any sense should book the Longchamps - they will even pick you up from the airport.
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