An incredible place to stay in Cairo, Egypt – Hotel Osiris

There is no shortage of places to stay in the iconic capital of Cairo. Most westerners will head to the beautiful, and familiar, hotels along the Nile such as the Hilton, Marriott, etc (we did too but only for a few minutes to take advantage of the AC in the lobby). However, after lots of digging Lindsay and I found a truly unique place to stay called Hotel Osiris. This small little guesthouse is located in the center of Cairo only a few blocks from Tahrir square (the site of the recent revolution). It sits on the top floor of a run down office building about 10-15 stories up. It is run by a very nice French/Egyptian couple and their little cute dog runs all over the place. We booked a cute little room with a shower but no bathroom (truly European style). The room was small and simple but extremely comfortable. The best part of this hotel is its high up location with stunning views. You can look out over the entire city and can literally hear the “buzz” of the busy streets of Cairo below. Every morning we would go to the small dining area on the deck of the hotel which overlooked the city. What made this hotel so special for us is that our cute little room happened to be on the corner of the building and had a HUGE private balcony that overlooked the city. Almost every night we would load up on snacks (local pastries, coca cola, etc) and would head out to the balcony to sit in either the big chairs or on the ledge and would just laugh and talk. During the day the view was incredibly as you could see just how dense Cairo really is. It literally looked like a concrete jungle as their were buildings as far as the eye could see. At night these buildings would light up which mad the view exceptionally special. You could also see the Iconic “Cairo Tower” very easily from the balcony and it was a great centerpiece to the truly unique urban landscape. On one particularly hot day (after spending most of the day in the HUGE national museum) Lindsay decided to lay out on the balcony for some sun…we felt like we were on a relaxing beach holiday while right in the middle of Cairo. :) My favorite memory was the nightly ritual of laying out on the balcony and listening to the sounds of Cairo below me. I would lay on the edge of the balcony and would simply turn my head to see the city before me. I would then close my eyes and listen as the city buzzed all around me. I remember doing this one night and just thinking…I can’t believe I am in the great iconic of Cairo. There is no doubt this great city is a tough one to tackle but having a home base like Hotel Osiris makes it a truly unique experience.