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Semiramis Inter Continental,
Cairo
By Jimmy Dunn
The Semiramis Inter Continental in Cairo, like
the Hiltons, Sheratons and Marriotts, was one of the first Western
chain hotels built in Egypt. And like the Hiltons and Sheratons,
but unlike the Marriotts, it is very Western, a place that
tourists from the West will find comfortable, but lacking in any
real Oriental style. As such, it is one of the nicest hotels in
Cairo, with a good location central to most attractions, and
highly regarded by frequent travelers with a five star budget.
 It
is also a popular meeting place among elite locals. On my very
first trip to Egypt some years ago, my Egyptian hosts made a point
of taking me to lunch in the hotel, perhaps to impress me with the
view of Cairo which the hotel offers, and its well known dining
facilities. I was impressed, and even amused. As a Texan, I
discovered the first Tex-Mex restaurant in Cairo (not yet open at
that point).
Inter Continental hotels are known throughout
the world for their first class service and facilities, and the
Cairo facility is no different. While the hotel may lack oriental
detail, it certainly has all the comforts one expects of western
hotels. All 840 air conditioned rooms and suites have balconies
either overlooking either the city or the Nile river. Rooms are
equipped with two international direct dial telephones, and all
have internet connections allowing guests to get on-line from
their rooms. There is also an entire non-smoking floor, which is
very unusual for Egyptian hotels.
One of the aspects of the hotel, and perhaps the
reason it is so well liked by locals, is the numerous and high
quality restaurants. Tourists  may
spend over a week in the hotel, never having dinner in the same
restaurant twice. Restaurant facilities include the Italian
Spaghetteria, the Far Eastern Bird Cage, the International Felucca
Brasserie, the Grill, which features French cuisine, Los Amigos
Mexican Restaurant, Cafe Corniche with pastries and Night and Day,
for 24 hour casual dinning.
For entertainment, the Ambassadors club provides
Jazz, as well as drinks and snacks and Los Amigos also serves as a
Mexican bar. For more formal entertainment, there is also the
Haroun Al Rashid nightclub, which offers some of Cairo's top
entertainers, and for those with a desire to gamble, the hotel
even has its own, popular casino.
 Other
facilities include a large swimming pool, children's pool, a very
complete fitness center and health club, with a gymnasium, massage
center, sauna, solarium as well as a Turkish bath. Aerobics
classes are also available.
There is also a large shopping arcade, with a
drugstore, florist beauty salon, gift shop, bookstore, art
gallery, jewelry store as well as lady's and gentleman's
boutiques.
Additional services include a doctor on call 24
hours a day, and a baby-sitting facility.
The Inter Continental's banquet facilities are
also worth mentioning. While many hotels in Cairo have meeting
facilities, few have as large of capacity as this hotel. People
planning meetings have a choice of over a dozen halls and grand
ballrooms, with capacities from 30 guests to 2,700 in the
Nefertiti ballroom. Of course, state of the art technology in
audio-visual equipment is also available.
The Semiramis Inter Continental, Cairo today
remains one of Egypt's finest hotels and, as with other of the
chain's facilities throughout the world, truly first class in
service. With its central location and pure quantity of
facilities, one will not go wrong making the hotel their choice
for a stay in Cairo.
Semiramis Inter Continental,
Cairo Cornich el
Nil, P.O. Box 60, Cairo, Egypt
Telephone 2 795 7171
Fax 2 796 3020
Email: cairo@interconti.com Reservations
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