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El Gezirah Sheraton Towers
By Jimmy Dunn
The El Gezirah Sheraton Towers is a main portal for tourists to
Egypt. A good number of those entering Cairo to go on tours spend
their first night in the country here. Opened in 1984, it is
located on the southern tip of El Gezirah Island. From here,
downtown Cairo is just minutes away. Fronting the Nile river, the
hotel's round tower poses a striking silhouette on the city's
skyline
 It is both a
grand as well as a large hotel, with 460 rooms and a huge lobby
which seems to be always busy with people coming and going, or
just relaxing in any one of many sitting areas. The facilities
will meet any tourist needs, including a variety of restaurants,
bars and shops.
As luxury hotels go in Cairo, the El Gezirah includes some
points heavily in its favor, as well as some drawbacks. It is
located in a clean, quiet part section of the city, and does have
nice facilities for the most part. And it is a Sheraton,
guaranteeing one a certain security in is operations. However,
rooms could use some updating and the style of the hotel does not
bring to mind much of an Egyptian atmosphere. It is also located a
fair walk from most non-hotel stores, which is unfortunate as the
area does have some fine shopping.
Having said that, the Sheraton El Gezirah is a comfortable and
entertaining place to stay and is not far from many of Cairo's
main attractions and the entertainment district. Depending on ones
budget, there are luxurious suites, with many rooms facing the
Nile and some rooms even have a view of the Giza Pyramids. On the
Nile side of the hotel, the main terraces are very nice.
 The hotel
restaurants include Ciao Italia, with Italian cuisine, the 24-hour
Andalus main restaurant and Kababgy El Gezirah, which is an open
air Oriental restaurant. One outstanding aspect of the restaurants
are their exceptional desserts. For libations, there is the El
Gondool piano bar, which serves some snacks, the Paradise Island
Bar, which is a floating, open air bar on the Nile, and the Nile
Terrace. Evening entertainment may be found at Le Disco or the
well-known Le Casino, where one may gamble.
 Guest rooms do
have all the amenities one might expect, including private
balconies, in-room safe, mini bar, data port, television with
cable and satellite, in house movies, hairdryer, direct dial
telephones, air conditioning, of course private baths and non
smoking rooms..
Other services and facilities provided by the hotel include a
24-hour business center, a number of shops, including a tour
agency, a fitness center, swimming pool, meeting facilities,
babysitting services, 24-hour room service and disabled facilitie
You can do much worse then the El Gezirah Sheraton, and given
the choice of downtown hotels, this is a good property. Most of
the newer hotels are located outside this area. Sheraton has a lot
of experience in Egypt, and this is a well-run facility with good
service.
El Gezirah Sheraton Towers P.O.
Box 264 El Orman, Cairo, Egypt
Phone: +20-2-3411333 or 20-2-3411555
Fax: +20-2-3405056 Reservations
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