Editors' Picks

Four Seasons Cairo at The First Residence

Serene, lavish, traditional

Four Seasons Cairo First Residence, Tag Ad Dewal, Imbaba, Egypt

20-2-3573-1212

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At a Glance

This opulent and private Four Seasons resembles a residential building rather than a hotel and offers amenities like a pool, spa and excellent restaurant.

Indagare Loves

  • The Queen Cleopatra milk and honey bath treatment at the spa
  • Aura, the hotel’s Lebanese restaurant, for delicious mezzes
  • The rooms on the highest floors which have pyramid views

Review

The quieter and more intimate Four Seasons First Residence opened in 2000 as part of a luxury residential complex. It sits on the Giza side of the Nile, across from the Four Seasons at Nile Plaza, and has rooms facing the river or Cairo’s zoo and botanical gardens. The main entrance resembles that of a fancy apartment building more than a hotel’s, with a small reception and concierge desk. The columned marble lobby has a seating area to one side and a grand staircase on the other. You have to go upstairs to reach the main salon, a confection of French opulence, with its elaborately painted ceiling, crystal chandeliers and velvet seats—the muse here was not Cleopatra but Marie Antoinette. There’s also a mahogany-paneled library that looks as if it were plucked out of Belgravia. Since many wealthy Gulf Arabs love London and Paris, those cities’ luxury landmarks were an inspiration for the property.

The 256 guest rooms and suites continue the motif, with rich damask and silk complementing the baroque reproduction furniture. The best rooms are on the highest floors and have views of the pyramids. On clear days at dusk the mighty pyramids eclipse the setting sun.

The outdoor pool area sits between the tower of hotel rooms and its twin residential tower, so it does not face directly over the river, but it does provide a sunny sanctuary where waiters will deliver lunch or snacks. A few steps from the pool is the first-class fitness, spa and wellness center, which offers such Egyptian treatments as the Queen Cleopatra milk and honey bath. Foreign and non-Muslim guests 21 and older have complimentary access to the Caesar’s casino connected to the hotel. The hotel’s restaurant, Aura, serves some of the most delicious Lebanese mezzes in the city.

Who Should Stay

Discreet travelers who want traditional luxury and amenities without the bustling scene of the Four Seasons Nile Plaza.

Written by Melissa Biggs Bradley

What's Nearby

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