Hotel: Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor
This beautiful and historic Colonial-era hotel was once used by the Egyptian royal family as their winter retreat. I’ll just assume they chose to eat out…
The Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor is without a doubt a gorgeous hotel. The impressive façade invites you to discover a property which has been a sanctuary for travellers and explorers alike for over 100 years.
Almost as if stepping back in time, the hotel retains immense charm and sense of place. High ceilings, long, wide corridors, large well-decorated public areas, and warm, friendly staff all contribute to this.
Outside of the hotel, the expansive gardens are a haven from the hustle (hassle?) and bustle a visitor faces in Luxor, and the pool is a welcome respite from the heat and a nice spot for lunch.
The Royal Bar and Victorian Lounge are inviting places to enjoy a post-sightseeing drink and discussion about your day’s activities, much like I imagine the likes of Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter did here many years ago whilst on various excavations in the Luxor area, including when Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.
We also enjoyed drinks each day on the terrace at the front of the hotel, watching the sun set behind the Theban escarpment throwing beautiful soft light back across the Nile.
Unfortunately, with this sense of place, here you have to make some concessions and sacrifices. The hotel is showing its age now and is overdue for the renovation which was put on hold following the downturn in tourism to Egypt post-revolution.
Whilst our top floor room was lovely (and a generous upgrade), with ample space for our four night stay and a beautiful terrace overlooking the Nile, it was let down by the bathroom and a shower with the worst plumbing I think I’ve ever experienced in a hotel.
It was an annoyance that really detracted from an otherwise nice (if dated) room – I’ll not soon forget opening the double doors each morning and having a coffee on the terrace as the hot air balloons rose in the distance over the West Bank.
Furnishings are old, but in reasonable condition, and the bed was comfortable. I also would have preferred a sofa rather than two arm chairs, which there was ample room for next to the fireplace, but this was a minor grievance.
Where the hotel really misses the mark, however, is with regards to its food and beverage offering. Similar to our experience at the Sofitel in Cairo, service was staggeringly bad; however unlike Cairo which had good food, the Winter Palace really, really struggles in this area and needs an overhaul.
It should not be hard in a hotel with 86 rooms and 6 suites to provide good service. Whilst the staff are all generally warm and friendly and mean well, their food and beverage staff are just not up to the standard you would expect here. There is no trying.
We would sit by the pool after telling attendants we wanted menus for extended periods of time. Once we went and got the menus ourselves, no one would think to come and take our order. Once we went and gave our order, the order would come wrong.
We walked into the Royal Bar one evening which was completely empty aside from one couple at the bar, and we sat and chatted about the day for about 10 minutes before we just got up and left. The barman was too busy cleaning and putting away stuff to even come and welcome us let alone see if we wanted a drink.
Breakfast was chaotic. Luxor is the type of place where people get up early and go. Logic would tell you to be ready for guests. However, often there would be long queues at breakfast as the egg cooking station was understaffed or had malfunctioning equipment.
Some mornings, the buffet had been carelessly laid out with all the food completely mislabelled, which if I hadn’t pointed this out to someone, I’m sure would have gone unnoticed.
The quality of meals at dinner time was appalling. We ate one meal at La Corniche Restaurant which was very average. Another night we decided to give the flagship 1886 Restaurant a go.
Mind you, we weren’t permitted into the actual restaurant due to a jacket and tie rule (that maintaining a ‘sense of place’ thing again), so were relegated to the main restaurant, but given 1886 Restaurant menu. I wasn’t mad about this as the room did not really have the atmosphere of a fine French restaurant.
Well, we might as well have ordered from the pool menu.
What is touted as exquisite French food was none of the sort. I’m not sure if anyone from the hotel has been to France, or been trained by French chefs, but a tough beef filet with no sauce? And steamed vegetables that seemed as if they’d been taken out of a pack from a freezer? These vegetables were exactly the same ones I was served by the pool at lunch.
Other guests we spoke to at breakfast also expressed very similar thoughts about dinner from 1886 Restaurant, particularly the seemingly frozen vegetables. It was reassuring we weren’t being overly fussy, especially given one lady’s son is a well-known chef in Sydney (my home town).
We were completely disillusioned with the meals on offer at the Sofitel that one night we just went for pizza in town (Pizza Roma, very good) and Wenkies for ice cream. This was the best meal we had in Luxor (aside from lunch at Marsam Hotel on the West Bank).
To be fair, the hotel did try and make up for some of these service issues. We spoke with the manager on our second last day after a diabolical service experience at the pool, and he was very apologetic. Our meal that night from 1886 Restaurant was complimentary and we were given an amazing dessert, cheese and wine spread which we shared with friends in our room.
This hotel needs to seriously up its game. It’s the only hotel operating at this level in town (well there is a Hilton, but hey, it’s a Hilton) and if the Four Seasons ever comes to fruition just down the road, well, as the manager (Fathi?) said to us as we were leaving the hotel for our Nile cruise, good luck.
Yep, after we commented to him on how disappointing dinner was and what a disaster breakfast was that morning (it was the busiest day and staff were literally in a panic) he said to us cynically as we were leaving, “Good luck in Aswan.” He knew we were staying at the Sofitel there following our cruise.
I was so shocked I just ignored it, but frankly, good luck to you…
Sojourn Summary
All the issues with the food and beverage and related service aside, I am glad we stayed here. It is convenient for the East Bank sites and I’ve wanted to stay here for a long time. However, I’ve done it now. Next time hopefully (a) the Four Seasons is open, (b) we will go to Al Mourdira on the West Bank, or (c) the Sofitel’s renovation has happened (it does look like it will be amazing) and they have new management who know how to run a boutique, luxury hotel across all departments effectively.
P.S. I know it seems like we complained a bit and were potentially difficult guests, but we’re not and we NEVER have complained previously on any vacation to the point where we’ve asked to speak with the General Manager of a hotel. I just get SO frustrated with a supposedly luxury property that cannot deliver a solid food and beverage experience and service associated with this.
Sojourn Essentials
My sojourn rating: ★★★★
Hotel’s own rating: ★★★★★
Hotel’s website: https://sofitel.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1661-sofitel-winter-palace-luxor/index.shtml
Loyalty program: AccorHotels Le Club (https://www.accorhotels.com/leclub/join-loyalty-program/index.en.shtml)
My room type: Luxury Room Nile View (upgraded from Classic Room Nile View)
My dates: 18 April 19 to 22 April 19 (four nights)
How I reserved: Sofitel STEP rates available when you book your sojourn with me (benefits include: daily breakfast for two; upgrade upon arrival, if available; complimentary high-speed Internet; early check-in, late check-out, if available; express check-in; and, no walk policy). These special rates are available through select travel agents and are equivalent to the best available flexible rate at the hotel (which are generally room only).