The hotel doesn't look like much from the outside, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there! The staff were extremely helpful and salons, banks and gift shops within the building made exchanging money and last-minute shopping easy. The hotel over looks the Nile and is in easy walking distance of major shops. Check out the Night & Day restaurant and if you enjoy sitting by the pool and fitness centres you’ll be quite happy!

The Semiramis is in a convenient location downtown Cairo. The staff and service was excellent and the price was well worth it. The only set back is if you want an "Egyptian-looking" hotel while in Cairo, then this is not the one for you. It was more European, without the Arabic touches that suggest you're in Egypt.
Other than that, it is a first class act.

My friend, who is a Cairo local, booked the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel for my husband and me. So we were shocked when the bill came and they charged us $380/night + 25% tax ($475/night total). Apparently, the local Egyptians get a much better rate than "foreigners." Our room was on the 28th floor NOT facing the Nile. We had priority pass privileges that allowed us the use of their 18th floor lounge for their continental breakfast but it was not worth paying the premium for it. The continental breakfast was ok but not worth the extra money.

The check-in experience at the front-desk was horrible. It took us a good 25 minutes to check-in. Each time we approach the front-desk during our three day stay, we were always waiting to be serviced. When you finally get there, the person behind the desk would avoid all eye-contact, looked or acted annoyed at you. You definitely get the sense that he really didn't want to help you at all. The concierge desk service was much better. Our friends had a similar experience. They checked into the same hotel two nights before us. They arrived at the front-desk at midnight but were made to wait until 2am to get into their rooms because their room "wasn't ready." The front-desk wasn't even apologetic about that. Several attempts by them to hurry the process were met with annoyed looks and dismissed comments. No discounts or compensation were offered to them for making them wait TWO hours after a long 10hr flight.

Our so-called premium room that didn't face the Nile, had HOLES in the wall. That's right, HOLES. There was a giant hole that was semi covered by a piece of wood behind the nighttable in between two twin beds and a hole where the door keychain was formerly attached. Both were extremely visible.

Our bathroom was extremely run down. The plastering around the mirror was falling apart. The mirror frame in the bathroom was chipped and pieces were falling off. Wallpaper was faded and old.

I travel a lot for work and have stayed at many 5-star hotels in the past. I'm used to seeing the $400-500/night room rates but I also have a good sense of what a $400-500/night room should look like as well. The Semiramis InterContinental Cairo was definitely not worth the $475 (incl sales tax) that we paid. Don't be fooled by the luxurious looking lobby of the hotel. The rooms are in a much worst condition and service of the front-desk staff leaves much to be desired.

We stayed at the Sheraton Cairo for two nights on our way back through Cairo to go home. It was $140/night + 25% tax. Lobby wasn't as impressive but the rooms were at least equivalent. And there were no holes in our bedroom. Bathrooms were also a bit rundown but at least you don't feel ripped off paying only half the price. So definitely feel you're paying FAIR priced vs the ripped-off feeling you get from the Intercontinental.

This was the third and final hotel stay of a recent one-week tour of Giza, Luxor and Cairo. Like Le Meridien Pyramids in Giza, The Semiramis tacks on a whopping 25% tax on all booked rooms. And like most other hotels anywhere in the world, in-room internet access is a colossal rip-off -- $30 CAD PER DAY if I remember correctly.

However, I've absolutely no regrets about my two-night stay there. The staff handled two reservation changes without issue and let me store some luggage with them while I travelled down to Luxor at no extra cost.

My room offered a spectacular view of the Nile, and though the hotel itself has been around for over 100 years the facilities were very modern. There's an excellent gym on the fourth floor, perfect for working off the incredible breakfast buffet in the lobby restaurant. The lobby also hosts a bar and coffee shop, and there are three different restaurants on the second floor. I tried each of them -- Italian, Lebanese and Thai -- and not one disappointed.

My buddy who was travelling with me put it best, as we were sipping Turkish coffee in the downstairs bar -- the Semiramis has a unique atmosphere, more film noir World War II intrigue than resort or tourist trap. I recommend it highly!