Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids
Review and photos of the hotel in Giza
Article added on February 4, 2013

The new hotel extension
  
The best things for the Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza are still to come. A new building will open in 2013 (soft-opening in June). I already had a chance to see a mock-up room in 2012. It looks very promising. 120 standard rooms and 12 suites in a fresh and elegant design will complement the existing bungalow structure with a new swimming pool, a restaurant and a gym.

Among the highlights will be 42 sqm rooms with terraces of 36 sqm. The architect told me in 2012 that 80% of all new rooms will offer Pyramids view. I remember a terrace with 2 deckchairs and 1 table. Fabulous!

The designer of the extension is the Englishman Bill Nicole who, among many other hotels in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and the Far East, designed the Mövenpick Sousse in Tunisia.

The new standard rooms with king size beds made an excellent impression. I remember a Toshiba flatscreen TV, light grey and beige Cleopatra porcelain on the floor, a bathroom with a separate bathtub and shower with Emprador marble from Lebanon, a bed and a table in Massif wood, a bed with fine Egyptian cotton, a chair made of Egyptian cotton, a cupboard in dark brown beech wood. The future looks bright!

The existing bungalow hotel structure

The tennis courts have been a victim of the extension. From 1976 to 2010 guests could play on clay courts. The hotel even organized an international tennis tournament for players until the age of 16, the Mövenpick International Tennis Tournament for Juniors! I was told that almost no guest ever played tennis in the hot Egyptian sun. Therefore, not only at the Mövenpick Pyramids, but also at The Mena House and at Le Meridian Pyramids Hotel, the tennis courts have disappeared since my 2007-visit.

Let's hope that the Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids will keep an important garden area. An oasis of peace with flowers and trees in a concrete and desert environment is more than welcome. It calms your spirit in the desert sun. With the exception of The Mena House, no other hotel in Giza offers a small park or garden.

It remains to be seen whether the bungalow area will disappear altogether in a future extension of the Mövenpick Resort Cairo-Pyramids. At the moment, some 240 air-conditioned bungalows remain. I stayed in the Superior Room bungalow 802 with a yellow marble bathroom and a flatscreen LG television. In some older bungalows the TVs should be replaced in the future.

The Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids is the oldest Mövenpick hotel not only in Egypt, but in the entire Middle East. It opened in 1976. It is government owned and was burnt down in 1986. It re-opened in 1990. Because of the Egyptian revolution, the current renovation has been delayed. Some parts such as the sauna, Jacuzzi and gym will be renovated or completely rebuilt in the future.

The best is still to come for the Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids because the New Egyptian Museum will open in Giza in 2015 just opposite the hotel, which will therefore offer the best location for museum visitors.

The 2012 General Manager of the Mövenpick Pyrmaids, Mr. Goneid, told me in 2012 that the museum engineers and architects are sleeping in the hotel.



The Thai restaurant Bua Khao (bitter gourd?) with Kamonporn Choojit

Kamonporn Choojit was born in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1957. She has been offering authentic Thai cuisine at Bua Khao restaurant since 1996.

During my 2012-dinner, Kamonporn Choojit offered my an excellent, vegetarian dinner which started with vegetable spring rolls with green cabbage, carrots and glass noodles, served with honey, carrots, vinegar and soy sauce. Chili, green and red peppers, garlic, celery, onions and zucchini were offered too.

The next dish consisted of a clear, medium-spiced vegetable soup with sprouts and a glass of noodles. A green curry with lemon grass, green Thai pepper, cinnamon, carrots, broccoli and green beans followed. Kafeleb leaves, zucchini, chick peas and cauliflower were part of the green curry. Steamed rice was served on the side. Tofu Fai, made from a Thai tree, was another dish.

The only average thing on the table was the South African Cape Bay Chardonnay, which I have seen in other Egyptian hotels too. The 2010 Chardonnay with a taste of apple, pear and lemon was nothing to really write home about. But it was not made by Kamonporn Choojit, whose dishes convinced throughout.

For desert, I chose a fried banana, covered with wheat, salt and sugar and served with homemade vanilla ice cream. On the side, I tried some fresh fruit including pineapple, served with mint and strawberry marmalade.

After my early dinner, I went to the hotel bar, which offers almost nightly live entertainment. I fondly remember the performance by the (female) singer Mahy Mahmoud Elsayed. I also witnessed an Egyptian wedding.

In short, the Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza surely needs to be refreshed and partly rebuilt. The new extension to open in June 2013 will make it a great hotel to stay. The location is unbeatable with the Pyramids in walking distance and - in a few years time - the New Egyptian Museum just across the street!



Books about Cairo and Egypt from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and Amazon.de. - Egyptian sheet music and sheet music inspired by Egypt.


View of the Thai restaurant. Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


The hotel's Thai restaurant. Photos © Moevenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.
 

The hotel's Roof Café with direct view of the Pyramids. I fondly remember sipping a fresh mango juice up there in 2012. The roof café needs renovation. Maybe that area of the hotel will be completely rebuilt  in the future. Anyway, the view from up there is simply fabulous! Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo-Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.


A new standard room in the fabulous 2013-extension of the hotel. Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza. - Books about Cairo and Egypt from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and Amazon.de. - Egyptian sheet music and sheet music inspired by Egypt.


A bathroom in the 2013-extension of the hotel. Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


The old bungalow structure of the hotel. Photos © Moevenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


A bungalow room. Photos © Moevenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


A bungalow bathroom. Photos © Moevenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


The hotel pool with the restaurant Il Giardino. Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo-Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.


The hotel pool. Photos © Mövenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.


The tennis courts was disappeared. The hotel even used to organize a tennis tournament! Photos © Moevenpick Resort Cairo - Pyramids in Giza.