Guest Book

Mara House was the icing on the cake of Luxor

"Mara House is a great escape from the hustle and bustle of Luxor - a comfortable and comforting retreat when you have had your fill of monuments and baksheesh. It revives you for another daily foray into the fascinating world of the Pharaohs and the no less beguiling contemporary life on the streets..

Mara herself is an excellent host (as you would expect from an expatriate Irishwoman) with plenty of sound advice, especially for the first time visitor to Egypt. Her consideration for her guests even extended to being up at the crack of dawn to make sure that our pick-up for a hot air balloon trip went smoothly.

Our stay in Egypt was stretched by an unexpected 10 days because of the disruption to flights caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland. We were due to fly from Cairo and would have been homeless had we not been fortunate enough to obtain an apartment from "Rooms in Cairo" which is run by Mara's son Stephen and his partner Sara. The couple proved to be just as helpful and hospitable as Mara. The apartment was cool and spacious, simply decorated and very well situated in downtown Cairo. Stephen took us on a tour of the area, showing us places to eat and shop. This is a great part of Cairo where you are not constantly hastled for tips and taxi drivers charge reasonable prices. Cairo is the dirtiest, noisiest, smelliest, friendliest and most populous city we have ever been in and we enjoyed every minute of it not least because of our pad in Adly Street..."