Every
few years, I feel prone to write an update about my home away from
home in Cairo, the
Hotel Longchamps. I can no
longer refer to these as reviews, as I must admit to being somewhat
prejudice and yet, I think I am prejudice for a reason. Every time I
make my way into
Zamalek and up the old elevators to the Hotel Longchamps, the
place has changed, and always for the better. Year after year it has
improved. And, of course, I am not the only one who thinks of the
Hotel Longchamps as home. A growing number of Egyptologists,
artists, diplomats and business people feel the same way. In fact,
reservations should be made
well
in advance these days, as rooms are usually not available on a
moment's notice.
There have been a number of attempts in
Cairo to copy this
three star hotel, with its excellent service, fine decor and many
amenities usually only found in better five star hotels. Alas, in my
view, these efforts by others have come up short, if for no other
reason than poor location. The
Hotel Longchamps is a Boutique Hotel in a boutique section of
Cairo, upscale
Zamalek, noted for its wealthy neighborhoods, embassies, private
schools and best of all,
fine
shops and restaurants. One needs not walk far from the Hotel
Longchamps to find several of Cairo's best bookshops, antique shops,
unique jewelry, fine clothing or even a reasonable steak. In this
garden area of Cairo, teenage kids dressed in the latest fashions
hang out at the local Hardees, and down the street one can even
purchase a Harley Davidson from Cairo's only dealer. I have to also
mention the Askar Digital Photo Centre, just three doors down from
the Longchamps, where the manager took several hours out of his busy
schedule one day to help me with a tricky photographic problem,
and
then charged me almost nothing for his efforts. This is my favorite
section of Cairo and few hotels, irregardless of rating, can boast
of a better location.
Of course, the location of the
Hotel Longchamps would be
of no avail were it not for the quality of the hotel itself. Many
years ago, Hebba Bakri, its owner, inherited the property from her
mother. Frankly, at that time the hotel was rather run down, and one
might even say that its reputation was somewhat lacking. Indeed,
guides such as the Lonely Planet said as much, even years after
that
was no longer true. In taking over the hotel, Hebba brought with her
a number of personal assets. As a well educated Egyptian, whose
father had been a pillar of the Egyptian tourism industry, Hebba had
worked at several of the finest hotels in Egypt, such as the Mena
House, and later served Lufthansa, the German airline, as public
relations director for the Middle East. Well traveled and well
versed in the tourism industry, Hebba speaks a number of languages,
including English, German and French, fluently. She also insists
that her staff be multilingual. She certainly leans a bit towards a
European attitude about most things, and her strong German ties
reveal themselves in the cleanliness of the Hotel
Longchamps.
Today, her skills as a hotel manager and operator have also been
rewarded with positions on various Egyptian Hotel Association
committees.
These days, the Hotel
Longchamps certainly reveals Hebba's talent, and her constant
efforts for improvement. I was surprised to find on my latest trip
to Egypt several months ago, free high speed wireless internet at
the hotel, a service not offered by many of the finest hotels in
Egypt. There is also a modern public computer with a flat screen
monitor, also connected to the internet, for those who might have
left their
laptops
at home. Yet, that was only the first of many obvious improvements.
Though I consider the Longchamps my home in
Cairo, every time I
return my home has changed. Over the years, these changes have
resulted in a new, nice hotel restaurant, improvements to the common
areas, including the two excellent terraces, and many small details
throughout the facility.
There are always the details, such as little corners with new
plants, new art on the walls, a vase here, or a new table there.
This time there was new wood flooring in the reception and hall
area, but as usual, some of the most dramatic improvements were in
the rooms themselves. For
example,
new bathroom amenities are in all the rooms, and some rooms now have
completely remodeled bathrooms that rival the very best of the five
star hotels. Many of the executive rooms have new furnishings and
accessories. Of course, the reason we refer to the Longchamps as a
boutique hotel, what might be referred to as a Bed and Breakfast in
the US, is because all of the rooms are different, each with its own
sort of special atmosphere, some better suited to business people,
diplomats or Egyptologists needing desk space, while others are
perhaps more geared to the casual tourist.
Hebba, the hotel and the neighborhood where the Longchamps is
located have produced an interesting and eclectic sort of clientele,
and really, this is one of the reasons I love this place. On any
quiet, Cairo evening I
might wander out onto the terrace to find an old friend I have not
seen in some time, often an Egyptologist on their way to a season of
excavation at some remote site, but I am also always
meeting
someone new. This time I met Beat Coradi, a Swiss medical doctor
whose large family comes to Egypt to volunteer their services to
orphan and other children in Middle Egypt (Praxisgemeinschaft
Affoltern). However, people are always friendly out on the
Longchamp terraces. On another night, I was also invited to sit and
have a few drinks with some young Egyptian professionals. On this
trip I also had the pleasure to meet one of the leading hotel
consultants working in Egypt, and the new incoming director of the
Goethe
Institute of Cairo, and really, because of the nature of this
visit
to Egypt, I was only able to spend a limited time at the hotel, as
we were mostly off in other parts of Egypt for our
Survey
of Egypt.
OK, admittedly its my home in Cairo. In fact, sometimes when I walk in after too long an absence, and I am hugged by staff members who themselves have become family; I see all the familiar faces and without asking served up a vodka with freshly squeezed orange juice on ice to wash the long journey away, it feels more like home than my real home in Texas. Its really good for my soul, lifting up my spirits and when I finally leave, perhaps feeling like a little more important person than before I arrived. Its how one gets pampered at the Hotel Longchamps.
See Also Past Updates and Reviews of the Hotel Longchamps:
- First Review of the Hotel Longchamps
- The Hotel Longchamps Revisited
- Home to the Hotel Lonchamps
- The Hotel Longchamps Revisited Again (2005)
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Last Updated: 11/29/2006