Paradise Inn - Le Metropole Hotel — Hotel in Alexandria

I was recently a guest at the Metropole Hotel in el Raml station. I took my boys to their first visit to the city and i chose the metropole because i liked the fin de siecle and edwardian style it projected in the pics i have seen. I've taken a room with a sea view, which overlooked both the square and the sea. The hotel itself is cozy and the premise reflects grandeur. However, the lack of attention to details made the experience far from perfect. The hotel is decorated all over with replicas of famous art works. However, some of them have holes and tears that are very visible. Same applies to the linens in the rooms and table covers at the dining area. I cannot fathom why it is so hard to pay attention to such small, yet very important details! I had many issues with the room itself. The minute i stepped in, i smelled this distinctive smell of bad ventilation, cheap perfume and body odor. I have to say that my olfactory senses are very sensitive and they determine my mood and comfort big time. I figured maybe because the room has been closed and i just need to open the balcony for fresh air. The smell was even worse in the washroom and i figured that maybe it is the sewage smell, after all we are overlooking the sea. The washroom was full of small bugs that probably come from the tub sewer. The condition of the toilet seat was very derelict and i wasn't very impressed by the level of cleanliness. The towels were very old and frail and i felt disgusted using them and used tissues instead. The toilet paper roll holder was rusty from the sides and the rust even came on the toilet paper itself. When it was bed time, i removed the cover to untuck the bed only to find that the sheets were full of different types and lengths of hair. The sheets smelled like body odor and they were yellowish white. i called the reception and told them that there is no way on earth that these sheets have been changed with clean ones after the previous guest. He sent me someone to change the sheets. The guy who came up was very decent. However, he strongly smelled like sweat and cheap perfume. I wonder if there is supervision over the cleanliness of the premise and the staff! one of the chairs in the room had a very big dark stain, that i wondered how this was never noticed and cleaned! The phone cord was not working and i had to use the speaker when calling the reception. The receiver remote control wasn't working either. They brought me batteries and when i changed them it still didn't work. I called the reception again and they sent me a maintenance guy who examined it and came back later with another one that worked. I have to say that the staff at the reception were very friendly and warm, especially the young lady who served us refreshments upon our arrival (I feel bad for not getting her name and recognize her excellent service and warm attitude). This hotel can be much much better only if more attention is paid to details, cleanliness and hygiene. I feel bad for the wasted potential. I do not think i would stay there again or recommend it to...

I have extreme dissatisfaction and concern regarding a series of deeply unprofessional actions and significant mismanagement by the front desk manager, Bassant, during my recent stay at Paradise Inn from 27 June 2025 to 28 June 2025. My group consisted of four friends (A, B, C, and D) across three booked rooms. The core issues are as follows:1. Misleading Information Regarding Sea-View Room Availability: Upon our check-in, my friend (A) and I (B) requested to upgrade our twin-bedded, city-view room to a sea-view room, offering to pay any price difference. We were explicitly informed by the Front Desk Manager, Bassant, that all sea-view rooms were fully booked and an upgrade was impossible. However, to our astonishment, our friend D, who arrived later, successfully booked and checked into a sea-view, queen-bedded room through Trip.com on the very same day we were told no such rooms were available. This direct contradiction is highly concerning and suggests a deliberate misrepresentation of facts.2. Chaotic and Incorrect Room Assignment: Despite our original booking being for a city-view room (my booking) and D's new booking being for a sea-view room, the staff incorrectly assigned my room (A & B) to a sea-view, twin-bedded room, while D, who had booked a sea-view room, was assigned a city-view, queen-bedded room. This was a clear and significant operational error, leading to unnecessary confusion and inconvenience.3. Unacceptable Behavior and Blame-Shifting by Manager Bassant: When we brought these room assignment discrepancies to the attention of Front Desk Manager Bassant, instead of acknowledging the hotel's mistake or apologizing, she shockingly stated that "the guest on this order (A & B) took the new order's (D's) sea-view room." This attempt to blame guests, coupled with a complete refusal to admit fault and offer an apology, is utterly unprofessional and unacceptable. Her behavior was dismissive, dishonest, and actively attempted to create conflict among guests.4. Ineffective Complaint Handling - "Complaint Unreachable": Subsequent to the issues, I attempted to escalate my concerns to hotel staff. However, the complaint process effectively ended at Front Desk Manager Bassant's level, with her ultimate feedback being that "the guest is not telling the truth." This indicates a severe flaw in their internal complaint resolution mechanism, where the very individual responsible for the issues is also the sole arbiter of the complaint, leading to an obvious lack of impartiality and accountability.5. The entire experience – from the initial misleading information about room availability, to the erroneous room allocation, and the subsequent appalling communication and complaint handling – profoundly reflects deficiencies in their front desk operations' professionalism and integrity. Front Desk Manager Bassant's conduct was not only unhelpful and dismissive but demonstrably dishonest...

The Smell: Smoke, and the smell of smoke, are everywhere. Smoking is allowed in the lobby and other closed spaces, with ventilation so poor it’s almost pointless. The furniture, carpets, and wood all smell like an ashtray. And when they try to “fix” it, they only make it worse by spraying more chemicals into the air.

Lobby: I don’t know if a policeman at the entrance is really necessary—I’ve stayed in plenty of hotels without one. Here he feels half policeman, half bouncer. And about the furniture: old doesn’t equal vintage. A creaky piano and sagging sofas are not charming. Pianos and proper furniture can last centuries when maintained. This is just neglect.

Check-in Staff: Professional? No. Polite but clearly untrained? Yes. My room wasn’t ready at 15:30, even though check-in is officially at 15:00. Fine, delays happen. But usually you’re offered a drink while you wait. Here? Nothing. Small detail, but it says a lot.

Elevator: A genuine vintage piece of art—probably the one thing here I’d compliment without hesitation.

Room (Paradise Suite): The space, layout, and view are good. The facilities, cleanliness, and ventilation? A disgrace. An insult to hospitality, to Alexandria—one of the oldest cities in the world—and honestly, to Egypt itself.

Room Service: Fast, but cleaning is only surface-level. Nothing professional. Example: I found an old plastic razor cap behind the sink on day one. I left it there to see if housekeeping would notice. Three nights later, it was still there. And the jacuzzi? Broken. Assuming you could even get past the hygiene issue.

Rooftop: The view is nice. Service is that classic Egyptian style: “welcome, welcome” and a smile—but no real effort in the kitchen, setup, or maintenance. The shisha was excellent, I’ll give them that. The staff are trying, but I’m past paying for “trying.”

Breakfast: Fine. Nothing impressive, nothing offensive.

In short: If you care about cleanliness, comfort, or good food, don’t bother. Alexandria is a coastal city—you’ll sleep and breathe better in a quieter, more isolated hotel.

Side Note: Pixelated portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, and young King Farouk on the rooftop stairs? If you’re going to take a random “imperialist” design approach, at least print the...