Marriott Mena House Hotel

Accommodation at Marriott Mena House Cairo is arranged through garden wings a short stroll from the historic palace building, so most rooms look onto lawns, palms, the pool or the pyramids themselves. All 331 rooms and suites share the same DNA: generous proportions, a king bed or twins, arabesque detailing, a marble bathroom and, in most cases, a private balcony. The ladder below essentially climbs with the view, and here the view is worth climbing for.

Whatever the category, expect air conditioning, satellite television, tea and coffee making facilities, a minibar, a safe and Wi Fi, with room service on hand for lazy mornings after an early start on the plateau. Bathrooms are marble throughout, most with a full tub as well as a shower.

Choosing your view at Marriott Mena House

Our upgrade advice is simple. Take a Deluxe Pyramid View if the budget allows, stretch to Deluxe Pyramid Premium if this is a once in a lifetime trip, and add M Club Lounge access if you like lounge breakfasts and evening drinks with your sightseeing debrief.

We sell Marriott Mena House Cairo on a bed and breakfast basis, and it is the right board for the location. Breakfast at 139 Pavilion is a generous buffet with eggs cooked to order at a live station, hot dishes, pastries, fruit, yoghurts and fresh juices, and if you come down early you can claim a terrace table with the Great Pyramid straight ahead. It is, in our view, one of the finest breakfast settings anywhere in the world. Lunch and dinner are then yours to plan around sightseeing, in the hotel or out in the city.

A little planning helps in the evenings. The Moghul Room and Alfredo are worth reserving ahead in the busy October to April season, while 139 Pavilion runs around the clock, ideal for a late supper after the sound and light show or an early bite before a dawn excursion.

Bars and lounges at Mena House

• Sultan Lounge: cocktails and Turkish coffee in gilded surroundings off the lobby
• 139 Lounge Bar and Terrace: relaxed drinks, with shisha served on the terrace
• Pool bar: cold drinks beside the water
• M Club Lounge: breakfast, daytime refreshments and evening drinks for eligible rooms

The gardens are the soul of the place: 40 acres of clipped lawns, flowering borders, palms and jasmine, laid out when this was a royal estate. Walk to the far end and the Great Pyramid rears up over the treetops; by evening the paths are lantern lit and blissfully quiet. Plenty of guests plan a lazy middle day here between excursions, and we think they have the right idea.

The 33 metre outdoor pool sits in its own landscaped courtyard among the greenery, and it is heated, so swimming stays comfortable through the mild Cairo winter. Loungers ring the water, a pool bar keeps drinks coming, and a smaller heated pool sits alongside for younger swimmers. Serious swimmers will appreciate a pool long enough for proper lengths, a rarity in city hotels.

Timing wise, Cairo is generous with its sunshine. Even in January daytime temperatures usually reach the high teens, so the gardens are pleasant year round and the heated water keeps the pool in play whatever the month. In high summer the pool and the shade of the palms come into their own between early morning and late afternoon excursions.

The spa and fitness centre

Indoors, the spa runs six treatment rooms alongside a steam room, sauna and beauty salon, with a menu of massages and treatments that earns its place after a day on your feet at Saqqara. A well equipped fitness centre completes the line up.

• 33 metre heated outdoor pool
• Smaller heated second pool
• Six spa treatment rooms
• Steam room and sauna
• Beauty salon
• Fitness centre

No hotel on earth is better placed for the Giza plateau, and few are better placed for Egypt’s two great museums. Base yourself here for two or three nights and the itinerary almost writes itself. We arrange everything below as guided excursions with expert Egyptologist guides and a dedicated driver, collected from the hotel door.

Tell us what you most want to see and we will build the days around you. Every excursion we arrange is guided, so you set the pace, linger where you like and skip what you do not need.

The hotel stands at the top of Pyramids Road in Giza, on the west bank of Greater Cairo, with the plateau rising immediately behind its gardens. Inside the walls it is all birdsong and jasmine; outside is everyday, energetic Giza, which is very much part of the experience. Downtown Cairo and the Nile lie across the city, around half an hour away when the roads are clear and noticeably longer at peak times.

We arrange air conditioned transfers with a meet and greet service at Cairo International Airport, so arrival is painless even late at night. Once you are here, the only sight you can walk to is the biggest one of all, which is rather the point; for everything else we provide a car, a driver and a guide.

One insider note: souvenir sellers and camel men gather near the plateau gates, as they have for a century. They are harmless and often charming, and a polite but firm la shukran, no thank you, works wonders if you would rather walk on.

Practical answers to the questions we are asked most often about Marriott Mena House Cairo, from views and transfers to picking the right room.