Discover Timeless Grand Tour Hotels in the Middle East: Historic Luxury Awaits
Imagine the allure of the classic Grand Tour: elegant hotel drawing rooms adorned with aspidistras and antimacassars, polished mahogany dining rooms, and charming creaking iron elevators. While modern hotels worldwide embrace sleek designs and flat-screen TVs, the Middle East preserves these relics of bygone travel eras. Discover where authentic old-world charm endures.
Egypt
Egypt boasts some of the region's finest Victorian-era hotel treasures. In Cairo, the iconic Mena House Hotel in Giza offers a prime location beside the Pyramids. Originally the royal hunting lodge of Khedive Ismail, it has hosted discerning guests since the 1890s. Now a luxurious five-star retreat, its swimming pool provides views where, as Napoleon noted, 'forty centuries of history look down' upon you.
For a more budget-friendly option, Cairo's venerable Windsor Hotel delivers quirky character with clanking pipes, vintage elevators, and attentive long-serving staff. Once a British officers' club, its Barrel Bar remains a gem for a robust scotch—even if you opt for just a drink.
South along the Nile in Luxor and Aswan, the Winter Palace Hotel (1886) in Luxor captivates with nostalgic elegance under Sofitel management. Stroll its marble halls, enjoy French cuisine at the 1886 Restaurant (jacket and tie required), and relax on your Nile-view balcony. In Aswan, the Old Cataract Hotel (1899), another Sofitel heritage property, has welcomed Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, and the Aga Khan.
Israel & the Palestinian Territories
In East Jerusalem, the American Colony Hotel—a favorite among diplomats, UN staff, and journalists—began as a 19th-century pasha's palace. Converted to a hotel in 1902 by Baron Ustinov (grandfather of actor Peter Ustinov), it offers luxurious oasis-like comfort amid its historic bar's legacy of intrigue.
In Bethlehem, the Jacir Palace—now InterContinental-managed—is a restored early-20th-century mansion with intricate stonework. Once a mayor's residence, school, prison, and military HQ, it now features echoing marble floors and a serene pool for respite in the region.
Lebanon
In Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near ancient Heliopolis ruins, the Palmyra Hotel evokes faded grandeur. Stay in Room 30 (once General de Gaulle's), admire Jean Cocteau's sketches (drawn to settle his bill), and unwind in its intimate bar to savor the vanishing essence of the Grand Tour.
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