Save time searching for the best hotel in Cairo. We've put together a handy guide for you, and we'll also throw in some tips on the best hotels in the city. Choose hotels, hostels or private apartments from classic portals like booking.com or agoda.com.
Where to stay in Cairo
Cairo can be divided into 5 main areas to stay in and outside of which you shouldn't venture. While Cairo isn't an outright dangerous city, outside of these districts it doesn't really look inviting in places and staying anywhere other than these areas will only be for the hardened of nature.
Centre
The best place to stay is definitely right in the centre of Cairo, which is represented by Tahrir Square and the main streets of Talaat Harb and Kasr al Nile. The centre ends with 26th of July Street in the north and El Tahrir Avenue in the south.
The centre of Cairo is full of shops, restaurants and very accessible by metro and bus.
Dokki district
One of Cairo's better neighborhoods is on the left bank of the Nile (opposite the center) towards Giza. Dokki is a residential area for the middle and upper-middle class, and you'll find several embassies (including the Czech one) and a few hotels. There is no shortage of shops or dining, there is one metro line running through here and compared to the centre, Dokki is quieter at night.
Zamalek Island
Cairo's largest island is one of the best addresses in the city. Its northern part in particular is full of embassies, shops and international restaurants, and Cairo Metro Line 3 runs through it.
Giza
If your main goal in Cairo is to visit the pyramids or the Great Egyptian Archaeological Museum, then it pays to stay right near them in the west of Giza, a complete suburb of Cairo.
In close proximity to the pyramids you will come across several luxury multinational hotels and really cheap local guesthouses.
Heliopolis
You'll also find a relatively large number of reasonably priced hotels in the Heliopolis district in the north of Cairo, between the city centre and the airport. This is a more upmarket residential area for the upper class with the headquarters of many major companies. The local hotels thus cater more to business travellers, but if you want to stay in a hotel near the airport and also towards the centre, Heliopolis can be an interesting option.
There is a metro line running through here, however the journey time to the centre will be at least 20-25 minutes.
Tips for the best hotels in Cairo
To help you find your way around, we've selected the best hotels in several categories.
Cheapest accommodation
For the cheapest accommodation with private bathroom in your room in Cairo, check out 25 usd and 60 usd for a night in a 2-bed room. Most of the time, however, you have to reckon with not very clean facilities or a bad location.
For example, we would recommend these hotels with decent ratings:
- Grand Pyramids View Hotel *** - a smaller hotel in Giza right at the south entrance of the necropolis
- Heritage Hostel Cairo - a newly renovated hostel near the central Tahrir Square also offers separate rooms with private bathrooms
- City View Hotel *** - a simple hotel with a great location in Tahrir Square
The Golden Middle Way
If you want to stay close to the centre in a nice apartment or a regular 3* hotel, expect prices between 60 usd and 80 usd per night in a room for 2.
However, the quality of local hotels is usually not up to international standards and, on the other hand, hotels of multinational chains are definitely not the "happy medium" in terms of price in Cairo.
- Cairo Capital Plaza *** - quite modern and clean hotel in the centre of Cairo on the main Talaat Harb street
- Nile Villa Hotel *** - smaller hotel with nice and modern rooms in a quiet area on Rhoda Island
International chains
Are you one of those travelers who prefer quality that you know what to expect from everywhere in the world? Taking into account the size of Cairo, there are not a large number of hotels of multinational chains operating here, and even for this reason the average prices are higher: between 110 usd and 270 usd per night for 2. We choose the best located and rated ones:
- Golden Tulip Hotel Flamenco **** - the cheapest of the larger chains, located in a quieter part of Zamalek, relatively far from Cairo's attractions
- Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo ***** - the best of the hotels near the Giza pyramids with good prices from 110 eur
- Ramses Hilton ***** - the hotel with probably the best location in Cairo, right on Tahrir Square and overlooking the Nile River
Prefer luxury 5* hotels? Some of the best value for money hotels include Kempinski Nile Hotel ***** on the banks of the Nile just a short walk from the centre of Cairo.
Hotel prices in Cairo
While Egypt's otherwise cheap prices might lead you to believe that even accommodation in Cairo won't be expensive, this isn't entirely true. There are relatively few classic hotels for the number of visitors to the city and therefore prices are kept relatively high.
You'll pay around 40 usd to 55 usd per night in a double room for a standard local 3* hotel within the usual tourist-friendly districts.
The better hotels of the multinational chains then usually offer rooms from 90 usd per night.
However, especially in the centre and near the pyramids you will also find really cheap guesthouses or hostels from 10 usd per night.
Kajman77 - I'm glad it helped you, don't be scared when you see the house, the hallways and entrance are crazy... It's pretty hard to find too, we were driven by a taxi driver and wandered around desperately. Some things were really bad on the first day, the wifi didn't work at all, but we wrote on WhatsApp and everything was sorted out with the owners right away, then we asked for a second heater, it was delivered right away. They also have strange habits in the house, there's a "reception", actually a "homeless man" lives there and keeps an eye on it, but he also offers to take out the garbage (as long as he doesn't resell it - we experienced that in Giza, they waited in front of the hotel to see if we gave them garbage - I sorted it and then they sold it). There is an excellent baker a short walk from the house on the main, the shops are well stocked too, good veg and there is a Christian on the right of the house on the main selling beer and wine and has everything at very decent prices - shop two steps down. If you cross the main there are food markets, we ate there every day, never got ripped off and it was fine (compared to Giza where we were just ripped off) and we were fine. Otherwise, as it says, the neighborhood is residential, embassies etc, no.... just Cairo, buy food for the dogs and cats, it's a bit emotionally taxing all over. But on the other hand, it was still good here.. so enjoy and let me know how it was then.
Thanks a lot for the info. We're going with kids, we've already done some of it, but we've just had a bad experience in Jordan, one accommodation didn't exist at all, but at least they put us up somewhere else, the other one in Amman completely blew us off, we ran around like crazy, in the end we hurriedly looked for other (read more expensive) accommodation... so I don't trust those Arab guys anymore :-)