Guest Book

Perfect place to stay on the East Bank in Luxor

"What a true home from home Mara House turned out to be. After the hustle and bustle of Cairo it was great to be in the quiet part of town. The three of us flew Egyptair from Cairo to Luxor on a early evening flight and Mara organised the pick up from the airport. On arrival we were shown to our large three bedroomed fully furnished apartment. A quick shower and down to the restaurant for dinner. This set the tone for what was to be a truely excellent six days. Each morning a breakfast of bread, yoghurt, jam, honey, juice and tea was brought up to our very own dining room giving us plenty of time to get ready for the different tours Mara had organised for us. We have travelled in Egypt before as part of an organised tour group and were quite specific that as 'independent travellers' we wanted to spend time at the places we had chosen to visit rather than be herded around to fit in with someone elses time table. Mara organised transport and arranged for us to be accompanied by our excellent guide Naveen. Naveen knew her stuff and she also knew lots of the 'right' people so we managed to get to see many thngs that other tourist just don't get to see, Hatshepsuts statue at Karnak being one of them. Nothing was rushed except the trip to Abydos & Dandara and only because the tourist convoy set the pace. Naveen could also read Heiroglyphics so a lot of the inscriptions were explained to us in great detail. We also spent an afternoon visiting two very old Coptic churches and a Monastery, a very enjoyable time and something completely different.

Mara House was everything we expected from the website and turned out to be much more. Comfortable, spotlessly clean and homely. Mara House is no five star hotel but the service is top notch and the food is excellent. Sayeed the young man who helps around the house and waits in the restaurant was on hand during the day and evening to help with taxis and directions even down to making sure we paid the right price for our off the cuff trips.

I can genuinely say that we arrived as guests and left as friends, in fact we were quite sad to leave our home from home in Luxor. As a recommendation we would all give Mara House top marks all round. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Mara and her team and look forward to returning in the not to distant future.

Allan, Brian & Niels"