One of the world’s great Nile-side hotels is being reborn. The Winter Palace has stood on the banks of the Nile in Luxor since 1907, a grand retreat from the golden age of Egyptian travel where archaeologists, royalty and writers gathered each winter. It was here, in 1922, that the world first learned that Howard Carter had found the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Now this legendary hotel is being fully restored and will reopen as the Mandarin Oriental Winter Palace, Luxor, expected in late 2027. Working in partnership with Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group, Mandarin Oriental is preserving the building’s storied character while reimagining its rooms, gardens and dining for a new era of luxury travel.
Set on the Corniche just a few minutes’ walk from Luxor Temple, with the Valley of the Kings across the river, it is among the most beautifully placed hotels in all of Egypt. This page tells the full story: the hotel’s remarkable history, what the restored Mandarin Oriental will offer, its rooms and dining, the famous Royal Gardens, the surrounding wonders of ancient Thebes, and how to plan a stay once it reopens.
Classic Holidays is taking early interest now for stays from the 2027 reopening, and can build a tailor-made journey around your stay, pairing Luxor with a Nile cruise to Aswan and the wider wonders of Egypt.
A grand hotel born of Egypt’s golden age of travel. The Winter Palace was built by the Upper Egypt Hotels Company, founded in 1905 by the Cairo hoteliers Charles Baehler and George Nungovich in partnership with Thomas Cook and Son, and it opened with great ceremony on 19 January 1907. The celebrations began with a picnic in the Valley of the Kings and ended with a gala dinner and speeches at the hotel.
Designed in a Victorian and Edwardian colonial style, the hotel was conceived as a winter retreat for wealthy Europeans wintering on the Nile. Sweeping red-carpeted staircases, ironwork balustrades, chandeliers, high ceilings and long shuttered verandas set the tone, and it quickly became the comfortable base for the archaeologists excavating the Theban necropolis across the river.
The hotel’s most famous moment came in November 1922. Lord Carnarvon, a regular guest since 1907 who kept a suite here, was funding the excavations of his Egyptologist, Howard Carter. When Carter uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, the Winter Palace became the press headquarters for the discovery. News was relayed from the hotel and posted on its noticeboard, and contemporary accounts describe the find being announced from the hotel’s steps. For months afterwards the world’s reporters filed their stories from its terrace.
The Winter Palace is closely associated with Agatha Christie, who stayed here and whose 1937 novel Death on the Nile is linked to the hotel and its river setting, though the attribution is part history and part legend. The hotel later featured in the 2004 television adaptation of the novel.
Across more than a century its guest book has read like a roll call of the age: King Farouk of Egypt, said to have been especially fond of it, and King Fuad; the Aga Khan; King Albert I of Belgium and Queen Elisabeth; Sir Winston Churchill; and a long succession of statesmen, writers and film stars. A member of Historic Hotels Worldwide, it remains one of the defining landmarks of Luxor.
After decades as the Sofitel Winter Palace, a new chapter begins. The hotel was run for many years by Accor under the Sofitel brand. Its owner is now Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group, whose Icon Company acquired a majority stake in the hotel’s owning company in late 2023. In February 2026 Mandarin Oriental announced that it would take over the management of the property, and Accor’s tenure ended in the spring of 2026.
The Winter Palace then closed for a comprehensive restoration. When it reopens, expected in late 2027, it will be known as the Mandarin Oriental Winter Palace, Luxor.
Mandarin Oriental’s brief is to honour the building’s heritage while introducing a contemporary spirit. The group’s announcement describes:
Mandarin Oriental brings its celebrated, intuitive style of service, built around the standards it calls Legendary Quality Experiences. The project is a partnership between Talaat Moustafa Group as owner and Mandarin Oriental as operator.
The hotel is expected to reopen in late 2027. As with any full restoration of a historic building the precise date may shift, so late 2027 is the safest guide. Rooms are expected to go on sale ahead of the opening, and you are welcome to register your interest with us now to be among the first to book.
Two addresses in one garden: the historic Palace and the Pavillon. A question travellers often ask is the difference between the Old Winter Palace and the Pavillon. The historic Palace is the original 1907 building: grand, five-star and full of period character, with the most coveted rooms looking directly over the Nile. The Pavillon Winter is a separate, more modern wing built in the 1990s in the rear gardens, offering simpler rooms at lower prices while sharing the same grounds, pool and setting. How the Pavillon features in the Mandarin Oriental restoration has not yet been confirmed.
In the historic building, rooms have traditionally fallen into two camps: those facing the river and the Corniche, with balconies over the Nile and the finest sunsets, and quieter garden-view rooms overlooking the botanical grounds. Under its previous operator the room ladder ran from Classic through Superior and Luxury rooms to Junior Suites, rising to the flagship Nile View Opera Suite of around 148 square metres.
Mandarin Oriental has described the reborn hotel as a refined collection of rooms and suites but has not yet published the final categories, sizes or room count. For reference, the historic wing previously held roughly 86 to 92 rooms and suites. We will update this page with the new accommodation, and with rates, as soon as Mandarin Oriental releases the details ahead of the late-2027 opening.
A grand tradition of dining on the Nile. The Winter Palace has long been one of Luxor’s great dining addresses, and Mandarin Oriental has announced that the restored hotel will feature six dining venues. Their names and concepts have not yet been revealed, but the hotel’s culinary heritage gives a sense of the occasion to come.
These venues belong to the hotel’s heritage. Mandarin Oriental has not yet confirmed which, if any, will return under the same names after the restoration, so please treat them as the story of the hotel rather than a guarantee. Meals and board basis are arranged separately from your room and depend on the rate or package you book.
A green sanctuary on the edge of the desert. Behind the hotel lie the famous Royal Gardens, a botanical retreat of around 40,000 square metres planted with more than fifty species of tree, some over a century old, and threaded with bougainvillea-lined paths, fountains and shaded plazas. They were once Howard Carter’s favourite place to retreat during the long seasons of excavation, and they remain one of the hotel’s defining pleasures.
Set among the palms is a large heated outdoor swimming pool with a swim-up bar and poolside dining, kept comfortable through the cooler winter months. Tennis courts have also stood within the grounds.
The restored hotel will be home to The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, set within the tranquil gardens. Mandarin Oriental is renowned the world over for its award-winning spas, so this is expected to be a highlight of the reopening. Full treatment details will be announced closer to the opening in late 2027.
The finest address in Luxor. The hotel stands on the Corniche el-Nil on the east bank of the Nile, in the heart of the city. Luxor Temple is barely 100 metres away, a five-minute stroll along the river, and the great Temple of Karnak lies about 3 kilometres north, a short taxi ride or a walk along the restored 2.7-kilometre Avenue of Sphinxes that reopened in 2021. Luxor International Airport is roughly 15 to 20 minutes away by car.
The west bank, reached by ferry or private boat in about ten minutes, holds some of the greatest sights in all of Egypt:
A sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the west bank, typically 45 to 60 minutes aloft, is one of Luxor’s signature experiences. On the water, a traditional felucca sail at sunset, including the popular trip to Banana Island, is a gentle counterpoint to the temples. The Luxor Museum and the Mummification Museum are both an easy walk north along the Corniche.
Direct flights operate from London to Luxor with a flight time of around five and a half hours. Many travellers also connect through Cairo, or fly to Hurghada on the Red Sea and transfer to Luxor by road.
A stay at the Winter Palace pairs beautifully with a cruise on the Nile. At the heart of a Classic Holidays journey to Luxor is a cruise aboard one of our own ships, the MS Royal Princess or the Classic Blue Shadow IV, gliding between the great temples of Upper Egypt with a few nights at the Winter Palace to begin or end the adventure in grand style.
From Luxor the cruise sails to Aswan, taking in the riverside temple of Kom Ombo along the way, while time at the Winter Palace adds the grandeur of one of Egypt’s most storied hotels. Many guests extend the journey north to Cairo for the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum.
As an Egypt specialist, Classic Holidays will tailor the whole itinerary around your stay at the Winter Palace and a cruise aboard the MS Royal Princess or Classic Blue Shadow IV, to suit you. Register your interest now for stays from the 2027 reopening and we will be in touch as soon as booking opens.
It is expected to reopen in late 2027 following a full restoration. Mandarin Oriental’s announcement referenced 2027, and as the hotel is under complete restoration the date is best treated as late 2027 rather than fixed to a particular month.
No. After decades operated by Accor as the Sofitel Winter Palace, the hotel passed to its owner, Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group, and in February 2026 Mandarin Oriental was appointed to manage it. It will reopen as the Mandarin Oriental Winter Palace, Luxor.
It is one of Egypt’s most storied grand hotels. In 1922 news of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was relayed from here, and the world’s press based themselves at the hotel. It is also closely associated with Agatha Christie and her novel Death on the Nile.
It opened on 19 January 1907, developed by the Upper Egypt Hotels Company, founded in 1905 by Charles Baehler and George Nungovich in partnership with Thomas Cook. Some marketing references a date of 1886, but the documented grand opening was in 1907.
The Winter Palace was the press headquarters for the 1922 discovery. Lord Carnarvon stayed here and Carter used the hotel and its noticeboard to relay news, with accounts describing the find being announced from the hotel’s steps. The tomb itself lies across the Nile in the Valley of the Kings.
Agatha Christie stayed at the Winter Palace and it is closely associated with her 1937 novel Death on the Nile, though the precise attribution is part history and part legend.
The Old Winter Palace is the original 1907 five-star building, full of period grandeur, with the prized Nile-facing rooms. The Pavillon is a separate, more modern wing built in the 1990s in the rear gardens, with simpler rooms at lower prices that share the grounds, pool and setting.
Luxor Temple is roughly 100 metres away, about a five-minute walk along the Corniche. Karnak Temple is about 3 kilometres north, a 10 to 15 minute taxi ride, and the two are linked by the restored Avenue of Sphinxes.
The Valley of the Kings and the other west-bank sights are across the river. You cross by ferry or private boat from beside Luxor Temple in about ten minutes, or by road over the Luxor Bridge; the main sites are roughly 25 kilometres, or about 45 minutes, by car.
Mandarin Oriental has not yet published a final room count, describing the hotel as a refined collection of rooms and suites. For reference, the historic wing previously had around 86 to 92 rooms and suites under Sofitel.
Mandarin Oriental’s announcement describes a refined collection of rooms and suites, six dining venues, The Spa at Mandarin Oriental set within tranquil gardens, reimagined gardens and pool, and elegant event spaces.
Not yet. The hotel is closed for restoration and rooms are expected to go on sale ahead of the late-2027 reopening. You can register your interest with Classic Holidays now to be among the first to book, and to plan a Luxor and Nile cruise holiday around your stay.
There are direct flights from London to Luxor with a flight time of around five and a half hours. You can also connect through Cairo, or fly to Hurghada on the Red Sea and transfer to Luxor by road.
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