President Hotel

Disappointing

1. The location (the "Zamalak" part of Cairo) is comparatively tranquil. 2. The views from the rooms (10th to 12th floor) over the skyline of Cairo are fantastic. 3. One of the two evening shift front desk men was very nice and helpful. 4. Breakfast buffet was good, compared to other Cairo hotels in this price range. 5. The room was an appropriate size and properly furnished.

1. I have stayed at several hotels in Cairo, especially in this part of town ("Zamalak"). Compared to other hotels, this one is not good value for the price. After only two nights, I checked out a day early. 2. The internet did not work at all. Internet is only available in the lobby, not in the rooms. But during my two days & nights, it did not work at all in the lobby. Front desk staff pretended there was a technical problem that would be fixed the next day, but finally on my third morning when checking out, someone admitted that the internet did not work simply because the hotel had not paid the utility bill for it. 3. Daytime front desk staff were unfriendly and unhelpful. 4. The shower curtain was several inches too short, so half the water that hit the curtain wound up on the bathroom floor anyway. 5. The bathroom only had one towel upon arrival. I had to call twice to get more to dry the floor. 6. The balcony had no chairs, and only one plastic table that was covered in dust. 7. The A/C was weak. 8. The security metal detector at the entry door is unwelcoming and pointless. 9. My second day, one of the two elevators became "out of order", which was annoying because all the rooms are on the 10th to 12th floor of the building, and the other elevator was often in use by someone else. 10. When I was leaving the hotel, the other elevator door got stuck. A bellman had to carry my luggage down to the 9th floor, to take some other service elevator in another part of the building to exit. 11. Front desk staff insisted on charging me at least one night upon check in, even though Booking already had my debit card number. So I paid the full three nights of my reservation to minimize card fees, which then led to further paperwork hassle when I checked out a day early because there was no internet.