International Hot Spring Hotel — Hotel in Giza

After a drive of 4 hours from Cairo we were welcomed by mr Peter, the owner of the hotel who fell in love with the white desert 28 years ago and started a hotel with hotspring.

The hotel is located at the edge of the oasis, having different types of really nice, clean and comfortable rooms.

The main goal of us coming here was a 2 day trip through the black and white desert. Peter organizes these with the help of Beduin guides who are already working with him for 2 generations.

So on arrival we met our Beduin guide Tamar and moved our luggage from the taxi van to the 4x4 and off we went...

SPOILER ALERT :-) If you want to be surprised, do not read on. I guess you have to be a bit of an adventurer but this 2 day desert tour is one of the most awesome and beautiful things I ever did. The vast desert with its beautifull shapes and colours, the breathtaking sunsets and sunrises really touched me in a way I cannot describe... I can imagine Peter fell in love with it, I did too.

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First to the (vulcanic) black desert with amazing hilltops, had a very nice lunch at a Beduin cafe called el Hize then via crystal mountains to our 1st campsite in the white desert. Here Tamar set up camp and prepared dinner while we enjoyed one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. After the well prepared and tasty dinner we enjoyed the campfire at this enchanting site. We were very lucky to be accompanied by two desert foxes who ate the left-over chicken bones from our hands if you offered it.

It was a bit chilly night, but the camel blankets kept us warm. We got up early to enjoy the sunrise, again amazing (sorry for all the superlatives, I do not know other words to describe it)

After breakfast and coffee, Tamar broke up camp while we walked through the desert, finding beautifully shaped magnetite rocks.

We toured different types of desert, every hour different and saw great views. We had lunch, again well cooked by Tamar, at an ancient Roman spring. Where does that water come from... inshallah...

Our second camp site was in the white desert in between the "mushroom stones", carved by the wind as the hammer and the sand as the chizzels. Again... amazing sunset, dinner (chicken bbq), campfire, sunrise and breakfast.

Then off, back to the oasis, through the "old" white dessert where desert tours were done before the 4x4 cars.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed a walk over the hills overseeing 1000's of palm trees and went in the hotspring, which was really hot, but nice.

After dinner Peter invited us to his very nice bar where he joined us for a drink and we talked about Egypt and the desert.

Thank you Peter for the hospitality and making this all possible...

We have wanted to visit the white desert for as long as I've known about it but only found time this year. I like to book things myself normally, but choosing a company local to the area with years of experience and knowledge was top of the list, as Egypt can be hassle. Not only does Peter, the boss, have a lovely hotel where we stayed for a night, but he also organized the transfers from Cairo, and local trips to see and stay overnight in the desert, visit some amazing dunes and visit another heritage site, Wadi el Hitan, on the way back to Cairo. Having this all organized and in place was peace of mind that you just dont get booking with , e.g. a UK company.||Our first transfer arrived on time, and in a clean fast private car we soon arrived in Bahariya, where we met Peter and changed into our 4WD car for the overnight tour. Our guide was perfect, spoke good English and took us all round the desert, stopping for as many pictures and short walks as we wanted before setting up camp for us and cooking a wonderful dinner. The lentil soup was amazing and there was chicken for me and a vegan option for my wife. We slept well and woke to a beautiful sunrise in an amazing place, before breakfast, then visiting the black desert, back to the hotel for lunch and a trip to the amazing Ghorabi dunes for sunset.||The hotel cook made us dinner and we had a decent bottle of local wine, before chatting with Peter about the next day's tour and all about his hotel, where he has lived for thirty years. After breakfast we head to Wadi el Hitan via a transfer, then another 4WD, where we saw while bones dug from the desert, which used to be underwater, and more amazing rocks. Our driver was very good, barreling along the sands and up rock faces, a real adventure. Then another taxi back to Cairo, all organized proficiently by WhiteDesertTours.com the tour part of Peter's operations in Bahariya.||We coudlnt have had a better trip and knowing it was all taken care of made it very relaxing too. We absolutely recommend this company for anyone wanting to see the sights in the area, as there are so many things to take care of and having local knowledge is everything. The price was excellent too, the hotel very comfortable and the vehicles...

We decided a few days ago to make an inspection trip of this hotel and accordingly my assistant telephoned the owner of the hotel Peter Wirth advising him that my wife & I would be coming on Friday to meet with him and inspect the hotel as we were planning to bring a group there soon.||As planned my wife & I drove almost 4 1/2 hours to get there and due to no signs anywhere to help us reach the place we drove in circles until finally a local guy showed us the way.||We got there at 12:34pm, parked our car then walked into what seemed like a completely deserted place, reaching a lobby/reception area where no one was there at all, which made us feel totally uncomfortable.||I telephoned the hotel and a foreign lady answered, to whom I mentioned we were expected by Peter today, and obviously she was aware of our visit, yet she replies by saying “I just started my lunch now, so I will come see you in 15 minutes???||What a reply? Having been in the travel and hospitality business myself for 47 years, my wife and I decided we cannot possibly send clients to a hotel of that sort where there are no staff to welcome visitors, and certainly where whoever she may be who answered the phone was too busy eating lunch and willingly asking guests to just wait till she’s done?||Totally disappointed that we wasted our time driving to/from Bawiti to inspect a hotel which apparently lacks the ABC of...