Philo Hotel — Hotel in Cairo

I have high standards for accommodation, and spend a long time looking. Cairo seemed to have expensive and very cheap hotels, but not a lot in between. Some hotels have good reviews but when you check on another site they have awful ones. When I checked this hotel I found loads of good reviews and I knew that as our first stop on a large trip Cairo could be challenging/ especially in July. ||My sons and I opted for an Uber but arrived during a world wide internet outage, leading us to get a taxi from the airport. This didn’t go well and when I arrived at the hotel I was surprised by the building. It was late, hot and I was worried I’d made a mistake. ||We were given a triple room and we tried to settle in. After a few teething issues we met Mr Fillip and I can tell you that at that point it became clear why the reviews are all so positive. ||Mr Fillip dealt with every issue, including the ones I had regarding my card being blocked. He supported me and my sons and I saw them settle into this strange country.||Mr Fillip made sure every second of the rest of our trip was enjoyable. My sons warmed to him, and they don’t tend to, and we felt happy and safe. We booked a trip to the pyramids and a Nile cruise through the hotel and I advise you to do the same. ||We saw Mr Fillip treat his staff and other people very well, and his customer service was 5 star.||There’s a Dunkin’ donut and Pizza Hut just across so if you’re travelling with family, like myself, it’s very grounding and feels easy. There are also many cash points on the street and it’s close to the museum, which was incredible. ||We would never stay anywhere else in Cairo. What matters in any hotel, is the cleanliness and the way you feel when you can go back to your room, and how easy it is to borrow an adapter etc. ||My sons and i will never forget our brief stay and hope to return again. Everyone said to avoid Cairo on July, but the air con was amazing and there was a fridge- what more...

Philo Hotel is a unique and distinctive place in every sense of the word. From The moment you enter the hotel building, the doorman greets you with his distinctive robe and his warm, shy smile that makes you feel like you are among your family and friends. As soon as you enter the hotel, you are greeted by the daughter of the hotel owner or one of the receptionists, and within seconds you find the hotel owner welcoming you with a wide smile, as his wife and all the employees greet you in the same manner. In fact, the hotel is located in a distinctive place in all aspects, starting with the vital location in the city center where you can find everything you need from clothing stores, food, cinema and theaters, as well as places of worship such as churches and mosques. All this in clean streets and under the supervision of police patrols around the day. In addition, the place is close to the metro stations that connect all the suburbs of Cairo and Giza in a wonderful way that competes with transportation systems in developed countries, but it is characterized by cheap ticket prices. Beside that, taxis or Uber cars available in the area. If you decide to spend some time at the hotel, you will find all the means of comfort and relaxation as each room contains a private bathroom, TV, refrigerator and free internet...

On balance a pleasant stay despite a few hiccups (which staff promptly attended to), however did not fully live up to expectations as the rooms seemed much bigger and more charming in photos.

Pros: excellent location with a lot of great eateries on adjacent streets, in a relatively quiet area with tolerable traffic noise (for Cairo) at night, very pleasant staff, high ceilings

Cons: double bed was quite firm and had only a sheet underneath two heavy blankets that looked like they had never been washed (top layer was printed fabric and had visible stain on it), poor water pressure in bathroom which was evidently a later add on to the original building when subdivided into hotel rooms, towels were old and very stiff, roller shutters to the balcony were jammed and could only open up halfway, mess of hanging wires below TV on wall, slow / patchy wifi

Hotel is on the third floor of the building with no visible signage from the street front — access is via the old looking double doored elevators around the...