I’ve finally gathered reviews and comments about Mara House and our Salahadeen Restaurant here on my own website. There aren’t many for Salahadeen, as it’s been open only to Mara House guests for years and TripAdvisor has since removed those reviews. These come from TripAdvisor, Google Maps, guest blogs, letters, and other kind words shared over time. Some are missing, as I hadn’t realized TripAdvisor began deleting reviews from tour guests who did their tours with us but who didn’t stay at Mara House. I hope these words give you a true sense of who we are and what Mara House is all about. Enjoy, Mara
Recommend Mara House Hotel
"We were in Egypt for 3 weeks in December 2011 and had 3 nights at Mara House Hotel. I had been to Egypt before 15 years ago on a completely organised trip but wanted to go with my partner this time on our own. Mara could not have been more help to us even before we left England and was able to help with other aspects of the trip not just our time in Luxor.
Our holiday had been 6 months in the planning and was a grand tour of Egypt including Cairo, Western Desert, Sinai, Luxor, Nile Cruise and Aswan all arranged by us via the internet.
As part of our preparation we were constantly contacting Mara for advise and assistance on things to do, sights to see and local customs to be aware of when out and about. The information we received back from Mara was comprehensive and extremely useful as we found out in Cairo.
On arriving at Mara House we were so disappointed to find Mara not there to meet in person and thank, but the polite and helpful Amr more than made up for Mara's absence.
We booked a number of trips in Luxor via Mara including early morning balloon ride (highly recommended by us) followed by West Bank tour and a full day trip to Abydos and Dendara. We paid a greatly reduced price for these trips compared to the tourist operator websites with the balloon ride being almost half price through Mara.
The well stocked mini bar was also refreshingly reasonably priced compared to other places we stayed and the cold beers in the evenings were much appreciated without having to break the bank to pay for them at the end of our stay.
Our breakfasts at the hotel were lovely and the packed breakfasts and lunches we received (as part of the cost of the trips) were excellent and completely removed the need to find somewhere to eat while on the day trips.
Mara was able to arrange for the tour guide for the West Bank to be able to collect us from the end of our balloon trip so saving us time and making it possible to do both things in one day.
As for the hotel, we had extensively researched it via Tripadvisor and Mara's website and it was really lovely inside. Despite knowing it was going to be in a residential area we did initially get a bit of a shock when the taxi pulled up outside as it really is in a back street in a completely non tourist part of the town. If you have not been down a back street in an Egyptian city or town you could be a bit surprised at the location. We had not appreciated what a normal Egyptian residential area was like until we stayed at Mara's but it was all the better for the experience and we were very glad we had not opted for a big hotel in the tourist part of town.
Our room was fantastic and we had paid extra for the suite which was well worth it. We did not feel like we were in a hotel but as if we had our own apartment.
Unfortunately we were too busy to really get to enjoy the suite or the roof terrace. Maybe next time we will arrange for a more relaxed stay with less day trips now that we have done the main attractions.
We timed our walk back into town and Luxor Temple and it took a leisurely 15 minutes only. Once you cross under the train station tunnel you are then in the tourist area and start to get pestered by the hawkers and traders but by then you are only a few minutes from Luxor Temple etc so thats to be expected.
Hassle from hawkers and traders etc is a fact of life in the tourist areas of Luxor and other cities and site areas in Egypt and can be very annoying. We found once we came back across the railway line into the Mara side of town the attention we received was due to the friendliness of the people especially the children and all they wanted was for us to say 'Hello' back to them and shake their hands although they did ask us for pens for them to do their school work with. Bring any pens lying around the house with you as they are a much appreciated handout to the children around Mara's hotel and in other parts of Egypt away from the tourist areas.
We will definitely be doing another Luxor to Aswan cruise in the future and intend on staying at Mara's Hotel again whilst in Luxor. This is not a luxury 5 star hotel but a really lovely place to stay with real personality and was more like staying with friends who were giving you your own time and space than staying in a hotel.
I cannot recommend Mara House Hotel more highly for the independant traveller wanting something different from the sterile tourist hotels."
"We were in Egypt for 3 weeks in December 2011 and had 3 nights at Mara House Hotel. I had been to Egypt before 15 years ago on a completely organised trip but wanted to go with my partner this time on our own. Mara could not have been more help to us even before we left England and was able to help with other aspects of the trip not just our time in Luxor.
Our holiday had been 6 months in the planning and was a grand tour of Egypt including Cairo, Western Desert, Sinai, Luxor, Nile Cruise and Aswan all arranged by us via the internet.
As part of our preparation we were constantly contacting Mara for advise and assistance on things to do, sights to see and local customs to be aware of when out and about. The information we received back from Mara was comprehensive and extremely useful as we found out in Cairo.
On arriving at Mara House we were so disappointed to find Mara not there to meet in person and thank, but the polite and helpful Amr more than made up for Mara's absence.
We booked a number of trips in Luxor via Mara including early morning balloon ride (highly recommended by us) followed by West Bank tour and a full day trip to Abydos and Dendara. We paid a greatly reduced price for these trips compared to the tourist operator websites with the balloon ride being almost half price through Mara.
The well stocked mini bar was also refreshingly reasonably priced compared to other places we stayed and the cold beers in the evenings were much appreciated without having to break the bank to pay for them at the end of our stay.
Our breakfasts at the hotel were lovely and the packed breakfasts and lunches we received (as part of the cost of the trips) were excellent and completely removed the need to find somewhere to eat while on the day trips.
Mara was able to arrange for the tour guide for the West Bank to be able to collect us from the end of our balloon trip so saving us time and making it possible to do both things in one day.
As for the hotel, we had extensively researched it via Tripadvisor and Mara's website and it was really lovely inside. Despite knowing it was going to be in a residential area we did initially get a bit of a shock when the taxi pulled up outside as it really is in a back street in a completely non tourist part of the town. If you have not been down a back street in an Egyptian city or town you could be a bit surprised at the location. We had not appreciated what a normal Egyptian residential area was like until we stayed at Mara's but it was all the better for the experience and we were very glad we had not opted for a big hotel in the tourist part of town.
Our room was fantastic and we had paid extra for the suite which was well worth it. We did not feel like we were in a hotel but as if we had our own apartment.
Unfortunately we were too busy to really get to enjoy the suite or the roof terrace. Maybe next time we will arrange for a more relaxed stay with less day trips now that we have done the main attractions.
We timed our walk back into town and Luxor Temple and it took a leisurely 15 minutes only. Once you cross under the train station tunnel you are then in the tourist area and start to get pestered by the hawkers and traders but by then you are only a few minutes from Luxor Temple etc so thats to be expected.
Hassle from hawkers and traders etc is a fact of life in the tourist areas of Luxor and other cities and site areas in Egypt and can be very annoying. We found once we came back across the railway line into the Mara side of town the attention we received was due to the friendliness of the people especially the children and all they wanted was for us to say 'Hello' back to them and shake their hands although they did ask us for pens for them to do their school work with. Bring any pens lying around the house with you as they are a much appreciated handout to the children around Mara's hotel and in other parts of Egypt away from the tourist areas.
We will definitely be doing another Luxor to Aswan cruise in the future and intend on staying at Mara's Hotel again whilst in Luxor. This is not a luxury 5 star hotel but a really lovely place to stay with real personality and was more like staying with friends who were giving you your own time and space than staying in a hotel.
I cannot recommend Mara House Hotel more highly for the independant traveller wanting something different from the sterile tourist hotels."
See More
- Mara House Luxor – your home away from home
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Photos of Our Suites – Take a look at the rooms you’ll call home.
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Mara House Guest Gallery – Faces and memories from over the years.
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Salahadeen Restaurant & Feast – The story behind our restaurant and its exclusive menu.
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(Coming Soon: Photo Journal of Mara House – from the first brick to today.)