Guest Book

So glad we stayed at Mara House

"We - me, my husband and our fifteen-year-old son - just got back from a fantastic week at Mara House.

Full disclosure first: this is not a 5-star luxe hotel with a view of the Nile. If you want that, don't come here. If, however, you want to experience a little of what living in Luxor might actually be like, email Mara right now. She'll answer all your questions quickly and carefully and once you arrive make sure you have a hassle-free trip - no mean feat in a city where hassle is a given.

We were met at the airport and shown our comfortable and spacious triple suite (three bedrooms, sitting room, bathroom, kitchenette) and felt immediately at home. The house is on a residential street the 'wrong' side of the railway tracks, but a swift 15-minute caleche ride or 20-30 minute walk to Luxor Temple.

Mara organizes tours of all the main sites and we had pre-booked three of them. Our guide Mohammed escorted us to Luxor and Karnak Temples, to Dendera and Abydos and to the West Bank, taking in the Valley of the Kings, the Tombs of the Noble and of the Workers and the Medinet Habu. They were long days, but good ones. We learned a vast amount and it was all smooth and straightforward. We were met at the hotel, taken to good restaurants for lunch and returned to the Mara House at the end, where we could relax and absorb all that we had seen, whether in the cool of our room or on the roof terrace.

Going out in the evening was a breeze, too. Mara's team (Zahry and Amr, who doubles up as chef at Mara's restaurant, Salahadeen) call one of the caleche drivers they use (we were lucky enough to have Ramadan, who was great) to pick you up, take you where you want to go and take you back to the hotel afterwards. This is a huge plus as it means you don't get ripped off and you don't get overly hassled by the dozens of taxi drivers and other caleche drivers looking for business. And you can understand why they might be.

Tourist numbers are massively down since the revolution, and Luxor is very, very quiet. But don't let the political situation put you off. Cairo is 300 hundred miles away and Port Said even further. And most of the people you will come across are polite, funny, kind and if you treat them civilly, even when haggling, will do the same to you.

We're so glad we went - and so glad we stayed with Mara. We could have stayed in a posh hotel and spent our week in a protected bubble, but this way we got to see a little bit of the real city and to do it in a very easy and pain-free way."