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
471 entries.
A little, independent hotel, providing a little sanctuary
"As one arrives by taxi, the locale isn't promising, but it's a real Egyptian neighborhood, not the tourist strip (and it is walking distance to the center of Luxor).
Once inside the hotel, you'll be greeted by decor with a touch of local inspiration and of course the staff, who were always there providing friendly service. Mara will provide great support and advice in advance and whilst in residence. Amenities are basic, but the accommodation we had was great - a large suite, more of an apartment. Breakfast was always served in our room as standard- a most civilized way to start the day.
In summary a great place for the more adventurous tourists to base themselves i.e. those that want to avoid the homogenized hotel chains."
Friendly, very clean and enjoyable
"Mara is a great host with lots of stories to tell, her hotel apartment is exceptionally clean and well run and we were particularly impressed with the service she and her 'boys' give. Mara was able to offer the children a variety of games and books to keep them amused and we enjoyed the tranquil roof terrace. She very kindly allowed us to go back to the room on the last day to shower and rest before our departure."
"Mara is a great host with lots of stories to tell, her hotel apartment is exceptionally clean and well run and we were particularly impressed with the service she and her 'boys' give. Mara was able to offer the children a variety of games and books to keep them amused and we enjoyed the tranquil roof terrace. She very kindly allowed us to go back to the room on the last day to shower and rest before our departure."
Great service and hospitality
"My husband and I stayed here for 2 nights in October. I picked it because of the great reviews here and I'm glad I did.
Mara is a very helpful lady and she runs a nice B&B style lodging. The rooms have 2 bedrooms (ours did) and a living room and mini kitchen and a bathroom. It was a lot of space for the money which was nice. Free internet was included which was nice, they do seem to shut it off around 11pm so we got locked out until the morning when we were trying to uploaded photos from our trip.
The boys working for her are really nice they carried our luggage all the way up the stairs for us which was great since it was a lot of stairs.
We used her driver to pick us up from the airport and to return. I really appreciated that she emailed me in advance to ask if I wanted this as it was very nice to have someone waiting for us at the airport and the hotel is a little hard for the Egyptians to understand since they don't know "Mara House" they think it's Maria or something like that.
I had booked our own day tours with Eye of Horus, but I'm sure we would have had better guides if I booked through Mara as she knows them and they are accountable to her to get recurring jobs. We went on a 10 hour tour and were not told in advance to bring any food by our tour guides. We are vegan and just requested fruit for breakfast, and while it was good, it was more of a snack size portion, a little pomegranate and 1 mango. For 2 people for an all day trip, we were starving. So I wish we could have had more for breakfast as we didn't have a lot of time ourselves to go out shopping as we were on tours the whole time.
On our last night one of the twin beds broke when my husband sat on it, (and he's a thin guy) we felt really bad but Mara just let us use the other bedroom instead which was nice.
We would definitely recommend staying here, it's safe and a good price. We'll be back, we need more time to see Luxor next time."
"My husband and I stayed here for 2 nights in October. I picked it because of the great reviews here and I'm glad I did.
Mara is a very helpful lady and she runs a nice B&B style lodging. The rooms have 2 bedrooms (ours did) and a living room and mini kitchen and a bathroom. It was a lot of space for the money which was nice. Free internet was included which was nice, they do seem to shut it off around 11pm so we got locked out until the morning when we were trying to uploaded photos from our trip.
The boys working for her are really nice they carried our luggage all the way up the stairs for us which was great since it was a lot of stairs.
We used her driver to pick us up from the airport and to return. I really appreciated that she emailed me in advance to ask if I wanted this as it was very nice to have someone waiting for us at the airport and the hotel is a little hard for the Egyptians to understand since they don't know "Mara House" they think it's Maria or something like that.
I had booked our own day tours with Eye of Horus, but I'm sure we would have had better guides if I booked through Mara as she knows them and they are accountable to her to get recurring jobs. We went on a 10 hour tour and were not told in advance to bring any food by our tour guides. We are vegan and just requested fruit for breakfast, and while it was good, it was more of a snack size portion, a little pomegranate and 1 mango. For 2 people for an all day trip, we were starving. So I wish we could have had more for breakfast as we didn't have a lot of time ourselves to go out shopping as we were on tours the whole time.
On our last night one of the twin beds broke when my husband sat on it, (and he's a thin guy) we felt really bad but Mara just let us use the other bedroom instead which was nice.
We would definitely recommend staying here, it's safe and a good price. We'll be back, we need more time to see Luxor next time."
Mara is wonderful!
"Recently visited Luxor, Egypt and stayed at the Mara House. Decided to stay at Mara House after reading the positive reviews. Mara is the reason Mara House is such a wonderful place to stay.
At first I thought we may have made a mistake because of the location of Mara House. It's tucked away from the main areas of Luxor, but it's a wonderful place to stay! Mara greeted us warmly the first night and made sure that all of our needs were met. We received a wonderful breakfast the next morning in our rooms.
We took a day tour to Abydos and Mara packed a great lunch for us to have while on the trip. She was a great resource of information the entire time we were in Luxor.
While in Egypt we stayed in several luxurious hotels (Mara House is not luxurius, but is very clean and well taken care of), but none of the hotels had the charm of that of Mara House.
Thank you, Mara. We will always remember our stay with you."
"Recently visited Luxor, Egypt and stayed at the Mara House. Decided to stay at Mara House after reading the positive reviews. Mara is the reason Mara House is such a wonderful place to stay.
At first I thought we may have made a mistake because of the location of Mara House. It's tucked away from the main areas of Luxor, but it's a wonderful place to stay! Mara greeted us warmly the first night and made sure that all of our needs were met. We received a wonderful breakfast the next morning in our rooms.
We took a day tour to Abydos and Mara packed a great lunch for us to have while on the trip. She was a great resource of information the entire time we were in Luxor.
While in Egypt we stayed in several luxurious hotels (Mara House is not luxurius, but is very clean and well taken care of), but none of the hotels had the charm of that of Mara House.
Thank you, Mara. We will always remember our stay with you."
Will definitely stay again!
"We met a few other people at Mara House who also decided to stay because of the great reveiws on Trip Advisor.
We were group with a teenager and a senior. Mara House is such a cosy and safe place to stay in Luxor. We had an arrangement with Mara that a driver Yossiry met us at the airport upon our arrival. The service is very personal and you will be welcomed by the owner, Mara who is originally from Ireland and built the beautiful guest house from scratch. We were offered with a welcome tea/coffee when we arrived. We arrived around 7am and Mara let us check in asap and provided us with breakfast. We had an "all day trip to Valley of the King" arranged through Mara House which worked out perfect. The tour prices are so reasonable including tickets and quality of the tour was excellent! She also provides a lot of information including customs and travel tips that come from her own experience.
It is very clean and WiFi is available in the lounge. It cost 25LE (US$5) for a tax ride to town center. Mara's workers are very hard working and courteous. The roof-garden is very pretty and relaxing. Each room comes with mini-bar that provides various types of drinks and some crisps. We had to leave at 4:30am to catch a plane back to Cairo, there was no problem at all. They definitely put the guests comfort first."
"We met a few other people at Mara House who also decided to stay because of the great reveiws on Trip Advisor.
We were group with a teenager and a senior. Mara House is such a cosy and safe place to stay in Luxor. We had an arrangement with Mara that a driver Yossiry met us at the airport upon our arrival. The service is very personal and you will be welcomed by the owner, Mara who is originally from Ireland and built the beautiful guest house from scratch. We were offered with a welcome tea/coffee when we arrived. We arrived around 7am and Mara let us check in asap and provided us with breakfast. We had an "all day trip to Valley of the King" arranged through Mara House which worked out perfect. The tour prices are so reasonable including tickets and quality of the tour was excellent! She also provides a lot of information including customs and travel tips that come from her own experience.
It is very clean and WiFi is available in the lounge. It cost 25LE (US$5) for a tax ride to town center. Mara's workers are very hard working and courteous. The roof-garden is very pretty and relaxing. Each room comes with mini-bar that provides various types of drinks and some crisps. We had to leave at 4:30am to catch a plane back to Cairo, there was no problem at all. They definitely put the guests comfort first."
A beautiful retreat away from it all
"My boyfriend and I loved Mara House. It was exactly what we needed after a few days in Cairo and the overnight train to Luxor. It was nice to be somewhere quiet and have a whole suite to ourselves which was beautifully furnished and decorated.
The staff were very friendly and Mara was a wealth of information on what was around. We had dinner cooked for us and served to us in our room one night which was amazing.
The location was a bit hard to find at first but with a map or a taxi driver it was easy. The location is in a more residential part of Luxor away from all the touristy parts and no offers for camel or horse rides which was a bonus!"
"My boyfriend and I loved Mara House. It was exactly what we needed after a few days in Cairo and the overnight train to Luxor. It was nice to be somewhere quiet and have a whole suite to ourselves which was beautifully furnished and decorated.
The staff were very friendly and Mara was a wealth of information on what was around. We had dinner cooked for us and served to us in our room one night which was amazing.
The location was a bit hard to find at first but with a map or a taxi driver it was easy. The location is in a more residential part of Luxor away from all the touristy parts and no offers for camel or horse rides which was a bonus!"
Thank you Mara and team!
"This is my first accommodation review on Tripadvisor and I'm writing because Mara House totally deserves it.
Mara House is everything I can expect and more for the price I paid. The hospitality and service I'd receive from my 3 nights stay was excellent. The super bonus was that Mara knows Egypt and its history so well.
Also Mara's tours were very professional and totally insightful.
Whatever Mara House had promised from its website and from all the reviews I'd got from Tripadvisor prior to my booking, it all came true.
Thank you Mara and team!"
"This is my first accommodation review on Tripadvisor and I'm writing because Mara House totally deserves it.
Mara House is everything I can expect and more for the price I paid. The hospitality and service I'd receive from my 3 nights stay was excellent. The super bonus was that Mara knows Egypt and its history so well.
Also Mara's tours were very professional and totally insightful.
Whatever Mara House had promised from its website and from all the reviews I'd got from Tripadvisor prior to my booking, it all came true.
Thank you Mara and team!"
Best stay of our journey through Egypt and Jordan
"I recently stayed at Mara house on my journey with my niece. It was a welcome respite after the madness of Cairo. The sites were amazing and Mara was great. I was actually very ill one night with a case of mummy tummy and she was a great nurse as well! She checked on us several times and made sure I had the miracle cure of Antinal. It was a great bargain and the room was great. My niece said the meal was delicious too. Needless to say, I did not partake. I would visit again for sure. Thanks Mara! Stay there for sure..you won't be sorry!"
"I recently stayed at Mara house on my journey with my niece. It was a welcome respite after the madness of Cairo. The sites were amazing and Mara was great. I was actually very ill one night with a case of mummy tummy and she was a great nurse as well! She checked on us several times and made sure I had the miracle cure of Antinal. It was a great bargain and the room was great. My niece said the meal was delicious too. Needless to say, I did not partake. I would visit again for sure. Thanks Mara! Stay there for sure..you won't be sorry!"
THE place to stay in Luxor!
"For a very relaxing and most enjoyable stay in Luxor, Mara's place is great. It is in what seems at first sight an un-prepossessing neighbourhood, 10 minutes walk from the rail station, but in our experience it is quite safe and more pleasant to be greeted by small kids playing football in the street than to be harassed by cars and trucks in the busy commercial areas the other side of the railway tracks. We were greeted warmly and shown to a three bed-room suite, with a separate living/dining room AND a kitchen (which we didn't use). All this for about a quarter of the price we paid for the other places we stayed in during this holiday. I particularly liked that the "mini"-bar had four bottles of wine and 6 (or was it 8?) bottles of beer - at prices which were not very much more than those in the shops and a heck of a lot lower than in some other places we stayed. The roof garden is lovely and a great place to relax after a trip to the shops in town.
Breakfasts were excellent and the trip that Mara organised for us on our last day (to Abydos and Dendara) followed by a specially cooked "feast" in our room (no worries about arranging a "late-check-out") crowned a very memorable experience. We will be back, one day, and hope to bring our daughters with us."
"For a very relaxing and most enjoyable stay in Luxor, Mara's place is great. It is in what seems at first sight an un-prepossessing neighbourhood, 10 minutes walk from the rail station, but in our experience it is quite safe and more pleasant to be greeted by small kids playing football in the street than to be harassed by cars and trucks in the busy commercial areas the other side of the railway tracks. We were greeted warmly and shown to a three bed-room suite, with a separate living/dining room AND a kitchen (which we didn't use). All this for about a quarter of the price we paid for the other places we stayed in during this holiday. I particularly liked that the "mini"-bar had four bottles of wine and 6 (or was it 8?) bottles of beer - at prices which were not very much more than those in the shops and a heck of a lot lower than in some other places we stayed. The roof garden is lovely and a great place to relax after a trip to the shops in town.
Breakfasts were excellent and the trip that Mara organised for us on our last day (to Abydos and Dendara) followed by a specially cooked "feast" in our room (no worries about arranging a "late-check-out") crowned a very memorable experience. We will be back, one day, and hope to bring our daughters with us."
Tranquil, pretty and clean as a whistle
"From the entry to the bathrooms everything is scrubbed, maintained and pretty. The decor is charmingly authentic and the tranquil atmosphere was a welcome relief to the chaos that is Egypt. The beds and pillows were comfortable, we all slept well and woke to the sound of birds singing in the morning. Breakfast was a big tray loaded with choices: fresh fruit salad, boiled eggs, breads, cheeses, jams, hot coffee and tea, served in our suite while sunlight flooded in through the doors to the balcony...a real Kodak moment.
Mara was ever present and helpful with advice on where to go, how to get there, how much it should cost. I had to change our reservations a couple of times while I was planning our trip, Mara always communicated promptly with "No problem". She was sensitive to our needs regarding the overnight train which arrives early and leaves late, offering wash up facilities when we needed them. I should mention the rate: it's the best quality/value I found for our entire trip, it made me feel pretty smart!
Travel can be hard but at Mara House it felt like a real VACATION. Mara runs the place with confidence and competence, it was my favorite stay in Egypt (which included the big deal Cecil Sofitel in Alexandria). Mara House is a special place."
"From the entry to the bathrooms everything is scrubbed, maintained and pretty. The decor is charmingly authentic and the tranquil atmosphere was a welcome relief to the chaos that is Egypt. The beds and pillows were comfortable, we all slept well and woke to the sound of birds singing in the morning. Breakfast was a big tray loaded with choices: fresh fruit salad, boiled eggs, breads, cheeses, jams, hot coffee and tea, served in our suite while sunlight flooded in through the doors to the balcony...a real Kodak moment.
Mara was ever present and helpful with advice on where to go, how to get there, how much it should cost. I had to change our reservations a couple of times while I was planning our trip, Mara always communicated promptly with "No problem". She was sensitive to our needs regarding the overnight train which arrives early and leaves late, offering wash up facilities when we needed them. I should mention the rate: it's the best quality/value I found for our entire trip, it made me feel pretty smart!
Travel can be hard but at Mara House it felt like a real VACATION. Mara runs the place with confidence and competence, it was my favorite stay in Egypt (which included the big deal Cecil Sofitel in Alexandria). Mara House is a special place."
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.)