Steigenberger Pyramids

All 132 rooms and suites were built new for the 2019 opening, so everything still feels fresh: light contemporary interiors, king size or twin bedding, air conditioning, a minibar, flat screen TV and free WiFi throughout, with 24 hour room service on call. Balconies or terraces feature on many categories, and accessible rooms are available, so tell us if you need one when you enquire.

Views are the currency at Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo, and the ladder of categories simply follows them: city first, then pool and gardens, then the museum, then the Pyramids. Every Deluxe room measures around 36 m² whichever way it faces, a generous size for Cairo, and sleeps two adults.

B&B or half board at Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo

We sell the hotel on bed and breakfast or half board, and both are built around Lotus, the main restaurant. Breakfast is an open buffet with a long spread of international staples and Egyptian specialities, and our customers consistently name it one of the strong points of the stay. Half board adds dinner in Lotus, generally served buffet style with a rotating selection of oriental and international dishes, so a week of evenings never repeats itself.

Drinks with dinner are payable locally on either basis. The hotel is fully licensed, so adding a glass of Egyptian wine or a cold local beer is straightforward. If your days are full of excursions, half board earns its keep here: you come back to a table already sorted rather than going hunting for dinner on the desert road.

Room service runs 24 hours if a long excursion day catches up with you. Independent restaurants are thin on this stretch of road, one more reason half board suits the hotel, though downtown Cairo’s dining scene is only a taxi ride away when you fancy a night out.

A pool with the Pyramids beyond

The heart of the grounds is one large outdoor pool, curving through landscaped gardens and ringed with loungers, with the tops of the Great Pyramids rising beyond the palms. Very few hotels anywhere hand you that backdrop for a morning swim. The Pool Bar keeps smoothies and cold drinks within reach, and the Zoser Bar terrace overlooks the water for the golden hour.

The pool scene is calm by design: loungers under palms and quiet corners rather than organised entertainment, which is exactly how the hotel’s guests seem to want it. From spring through autumn the terrace comes into its own and the water is genuinely welcome after a morning on the plateau.

Spa and fitness at Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo

Indoors, a compact spa offers massage treatments alongside a sauna and steam bath, an unexpectedly good way to end a day spent scrambling around tombs. Treatments are chargeable and best booked ahead at reception. A gym with cardio and weight equipment keeps a routine going, and the gardens themselves are worth a slow lap with a coffee.

• Large outdoor pool in landscaped gardens
• Pyramid views from the pool terrace
• Sauna and steam bath
• Massage treatments, bookable locally
• Gym with cardio and weights
• Pool Bar and Zoser Bar beside the water

The Grand Egyptian Museum, straight across the road

Twenty years in the making and now fully open, the GEM is quite simply the greatest showcase of the ancient world: Tutankhamun’s treasures displayed together in full, the towering Grand Staircase lined with colossal statuary, and Khufu’s 4,500 year old cedar solar boat. Staying at Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo puts it directly opposite your bed, though a wide, fast road runs between the two, so take the few minutes by taxi or hotel car rather than attempting to cross on foot. Book timed entry tickets ahead; better still, let us arrange a guided visit that takes care of the guesswork.

The Pyramids, the Sphinx and the plateau

Ten minutes by road brings you to the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure with the Sphinx crouched below. Go early to beat the coaches, allow time for the panoramic viewpoint over the whole plateau, and consider returning after dark for the Sound and Light show. Camel and horse rides are easy to arrange once you are there.

Deeper into ancient Egypt

Giza is only the newest chapter of the pyramid story. Around 40 minutes south, Saqqara’s Step Pyramid of Djoser is the oldest of them all, with Dahshur’s Bent and Red Pyramids a short drive beyond and the open air museum at Memphis on the way. Together they make a superb half day with a good guide, and the sites are far quieter than Giza.

Cairo proper

Across the river, the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, home of the royal mummies, complete the museum picture. Khan el-Khalili’s bazaar lanes, the Citadel with the Muhammad Ali Mosque and the churches of Coptic Cairo fill a full and memorable day. None of it is walkable from the hotel, and that is fine: with a driver, Cairo unlocks easily.

Three nights is the sweet spot here: one day for the plateau and the GEM, one for Saqqara, Dahshur and Memphis, one for the city. With a fourth, add a slow morning by the pool, you will have earned it. We arrange guided excursions with qualified Egyptologist guides and drivers for all of the above, priced into your quote so there are no surprises on the day.

The hotel stands beside the Cairo to Alexandria desert road on the western edge of the city, in Giza, with the Grand Egyptian Museum directly opposite and the plateau rising behind. This side of Cairo is about monuments rather than café strolling: the setting is big skies, big roads and the oldest skyline on earth, with the city centre across the Nile to the east.

Walking to anything beyond the grounds is not realistic; the roads here are wide and fast. The hotel is self contained, with its restaurants, bars, gardens and pool inside the gates, on site parking, and a reception team who will summon a taxi or arrange the hotel’s own car service within minutes when you want to roam.

The questions our Egypt specialists answer most often about Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo, from views and airports to what half board actually includes. If yours is not here, call us and ask; someone on the team will know first hand.