| Hotel Rating: |  | | Satisfaction: |  | | Reviews: 6 | Photos: 5 | | El Zinia Gebly Street |
 | Luxor SOFITEL KARNAK LUXOR Reviews | 1 - 6 of 6 |  |
 | |  |  | SOFITEL KARNAK LUXOR: Best hotel in Luxor
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We stayed at the Sofitel Karnak from 01 – 15 June this year and each day we congratulated ourselves for making such a good choice.
The hotel gardens are really lovely and extremely well looked after – it really is a picture at every turn.
The main pool with swim-up bar is excellent, there are plenty of comfortable sun beds with mattresses and parasols. During the morning and again in the afternoon there is water aerobics and water polo. At the towel station it is possible to borrow or hire a multitude of games or sports equipment – there is also a book exchange library. A little further away on the lawns going down towards the Nile there are more sun beds, from these you have a great view over the Nile towards the West Bank and the Valley of the Kings et al. Close by there is a further children’s pool with small waterside and magic mushroom water fountain.
Directly above the Ő Nile restaurant is the Sundowners Bar – this is open from about 4pm until midnight serving drinks and shisha pipes – this as the name suggests is a great place early evening to watch the sun set with a drink or two. Do be aware though that due to its close proximity to the Nile there are a few mosquitoes around. That said the hotel does a really good job of keeping them under control – they have plenty of electric fluorescent flying insect traps around and each evening they mist around the grounds and during the day and wash down all hard surfaces (walkways) with mosquito repellent. Don’t be put off by the thought of hordes of mosquitoes they are well behaved, or dead.
Finally, do I recommend Luxor – yes, and I will be going back, but only to the Sofitel Karnak. To be honest it was the only hotel we have been to where I would have been quite happy to stay for the entire 2 weeks without stepping foot outside. It was only as we were getting to the end of the first week that we realised we really ought to make the effort to see some of the sights.
Drinks etc – the bedroom minibar is very reasonably priced with drinks being the same as you would pay at one of the bars. Inside the main hotel building the main bar is Carter’s Bar – this is where the main evening entertainment is held and in actual fact isn’t too bad – experienced far worse in Cypriot hotels. They do try to vary it a bit with either a duo or group of four providing both Arabic and European music and songs. This is interspersed throughout the week with Karaoke evenings or Limbo dancing or Casino nights – the animation team do very well and provide just the right level of enthusiasm for their audience. There is also the Moorish café situated off the lobby which serves all types of drinks from mid-morning until late into the evening. Prices for drinks are I think good for Egypt and this class of hotel – certainly cheaper than at home. A 500ml bottle of Stella was EŁ18 and Sakhara was EŁ20. Alcoholic cocktails were all priced at EŁ35 and from comments I heard seemed to be good and have a fair quantity of alcohol in them. Diet Cola, Sprite and similar were I think, EŁ9 each for a 330ml can. The exchange rate whilst we were there was EŁ10.66 to Ł1 sterling.
Likewise if you wanted to eat during the day – meals could be ordered from the Palmerie Bar (pool bar) these were very good value – for example pizza with salad and French fries was approx EŁ34 and an enormous beefburger with salad and French fries was EŁ32.00. The menu was quite extensive ranging the sandwiches to steak and chicken fillets – none of it too expensive.
Transport into and out of Luxor is a commendable 11 times per day ranging from approx 0700 in the morning through to the last minibus back from Luxor around 1830 in the evening.
PS - I checked out all the other main hotels, Old & New Winter Palaces, Sheraton, Hilton (dump), Sonesta St George, Le Meridien & Movenpick - the Sofitel Karnak is definitely the best - don' believe me? - then pay a visit whilst you are there and you won't make the same mistake twice. Leave a Comment
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| | | | SOFITEL KARNAK LUXOR: BEAUTIFUL HOTEL, GORGEOUS GARDENS, FRIENDLY STAFF
Tip Rating: Satisfaction: | | | | |
We spent two weeks at the Sofitel in Karnak. and it was first class all the way. the food (buffet style) was good with plenty of variation, always something to suit the many different nationalities. The staff were very helpfull the rooms were always clean and tidy, plenty of space in the gardens for sunbathing and the pool was cleaned every morning, The childrens pool was set to one side were they could splash around to there hearts content while there was plenty of loungers for we older folk to soak up the sun. Two boats were provided to take you to Luxor (free of charge) and would bring you back, there is no better way to arrive at your hotel after a days sight seeing than down the Nile by boat. We give the Sofitel 10 out of 10 in all catagories. Most highly recommended.
John + Dot
Great gardens, stunning views, excellent pool, Hillarious caberet, comfortable rooms and very friendly staff, especially the two boys who took us to Luxor in the boats. The photograph was taken from our balcony Leave a Comment Theme: HotelComparison: more expensive than averageDirections: On the banks of the Nile Karnak
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| | | | SOFITEL KARNAK LUXOR: Mediocre hotel in a horrible city
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This hotel is a mix of very good and very bad. The location of the hotel was mixed as well. the hotel is out in the middle of nowhere, which is good because the town of Luxor is a horrible place to walk around and to be. To get to the hotel is about a 15 minute drive from the town of Luxor and about 20 mintues from the airport partially on a dirt road in the middle of an agricultural area. Now this may not sound to good, but the town of Luxor is even worse! The streets and sidewalks are dirty and in horrible condition. Everyone is either trying to sell you something or just plain take your money (with or without you consent). Not a very relaxing environment. So, the hotel is a bit of a sanctuary from that living he**! Even though the town of Luxor is horrible the sights are definitely worth seeing.
The hotel is quiet (except for the call to prayers 5 times a day from the local Mosque), with very comfortable, but in need of updating rooms. The service though was lacking in our wing. The bathroom was barely cleaned, usually they did not replace our towels, and they never replaced the dirty glasses. In fact, our friend in the next room asked one of the service people for clean glasses and they came into the room and pointed to the dirty ones and said there they are and left. Also, we had a used ice bucket in our room for 3 days. On the other hand, friends of ours in another wing of the hotel had great service and even had their towels made into cobras or swans everyday.
The breakfast buffet was mediocre at best. The scrambled eggs for example were drowning in their half-cooked selves, very unappetizing. And, because we had booked around new years we had to pay and have dinner at the same buffet for three of our five nights. It too was mediocre and I think everyone got sick there to some extent, a few of our group very much so. The restaurants in town were not better. They are typical tourist places where they know you are not coming back again and serve the lowest of lows at a premium.
The pool area and gardens are beautiful. By far the most outstanding feature of the hotel.
The hotel does provide a free shuttle from the hotel every hour into Luxor stopping at Karnak Temple and a few other key stops and does a return trip as well. However, it has limited seating and if you miss it you have to wait an hour for the next one or take a taxi. Note: you should not pay more than 20 Egyptian pounds ($3.50) to get from the town of luxor to the hotel for the whole cab, not per person, remember to negotiate Theme: HotelPrice: US$40-80 » Currency ConverterComparison: about averageDirections: A 15 minute cab ride from the center of Luxor and 20 minutes from the airport. In the middle of fields on the banks of the Nile.
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- MERCURE LUXOR
#11 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Jolie Ville Moevenpick Luxor
#4 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Sheraton Luxor Resort (Khaled Ben Walid Street 83951 Luxor)
#14 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Hilton
#31 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - MERCURE INN LUXOR 2M
#13 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Partner Tutotel
#29 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Sonesta St George Hotel Luxor
#1 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Jolie Ville Movenpick
#33 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Gaddis Hotel
#17 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - SOFITEL KARNAK LUXOR
#3 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Movenpick Resort Luxor
#26 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Iberotel
#5 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor (Cornish El Nile St )
#21 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Mercure
#25 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt - Hotel New Winter & Pavillon Palace
#9 of 50 Hotels in Luxor, Egypt
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on August 1, 2005
on March 24, 2005
on January 26, 2007
on March 6, 2008
on May 7, 2006
on February 12, 2007
