St Regis Cairo Review – A perfect stay

The St Regis Cairo was the perfect stay for a city hotel. I would classify hotels into two different categories: resort and city hotels. I have stayed at some fantastic resort, but all city hotels leave just a bit to be desired. The St Regis Cairo, gave me the resort like experience, while staying within a city hotel.

This trip was a continuation of my journey to India that I did last year. Other parts of the trip are in the series of articles:

• Flying to India in Air Canada Business Class using a combination of my E-Upgrade credits on Air Canada and the Worldwide Companion Pass.
• St Regis Goa
• Fairfield by Marriott Mumbai International Airport
• Mumbai to Bahran on Gulf Air
• Six Passengers in Two Business Class Seats on Gulf Air
• St Regis Cairo

Booking the St Regis Cairo on Points

I noticed the St Regis Cairo was only charging 37,000 Marriott Reward points for the one night stay. That was an incredible deal, since paid rates were over US$500 per night. This is a perfect example of a stay that is made possible through travel hacking.

Every year I accumulate two free night certificates for myself, through the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Credit Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Credit Card. Each free night certificate can be used for a room up to 35,000 points per night. If I use them for a room below 35,000 points, I will not get any points back. However, if the room is between 36,000 and 50,000 points, I can pay the difference in points to use the certificate.

The credit card cost C$120 for the personal card or C$150 for the business card. Essentially, I paid C$150 + 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a room that otherwise retails at over C$650 per night, excluding taxes and fees.

Booking the St Regis Cairo with Cash

If you are going to pay for your stay at the St Regis Goa, you should always book through a Marriott STARS travel advisor. You will have access to the following amenities:

• Complimentary full breakfast for 2
• US$100 property credit
• Early check-in, subject to availability
• Late check-out, subject to availability
• One category room upgrade, subject to availability
• Complimentary Wi-Fi

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Transfer between St Regis Cairo and the airport

After a long travel day, I opted to pay extra for a car transfer by St Regis Cairo. While an overkill, I had heard enough bad things about Cairo, that I wanted to travel without any risk of being scammed during my time in Egypt.

I also booked the same service on the way back, once again, paying a small premium for the comfort of not being scammed in a city famous for scammers.

Arrival at St Regis Cairo

When we were a few minutes away to the hotel, the driver called someone to let them know my estimated arrival time.

As we drove into the hotel, we were immediately welcomed by the duty manager, a bellman, and some additional staff members to check me into the hotel. There were six people who were awaiting my arrival at the hotel.

• One person opened the car door,
• One person took my bags from the car,
• The duty manager walked me through the lobby to an open elevator,
• One person was waiting with the elevator door open,
• The duty manager waved me good bye, and a front desk agent escorted me to my room,
• When I reached my room, the butler was waiting for me, with the door open, and a welcome to indicate, we upgraded you to our suite.

While the front desk agent processed my credit card, someone else was arranging my bags and offered the unpacking service by the St Regis butler. Shortly after I was checked in, the butler then introduced me to every feature of the suite.

St Regis Suite at St Regis Cairo

Wow, the suite was huge. This is one of many moments I experience traveling solo where I feel like sharing this experience with someone would be amazing. Here I was, in one of the most luxurious hotels of a city, visiting one of the icons of the world, and I was without my family.

As you enter the room, you walk straight into the dining room, which is where my welcome amenity was also placed. Nex to the dining room was the living room and a table behind the sofa, also pointing to the television.

The study desk also came with additional stationary. While, not very common today, this used to be a common feature at luxury hotels not too long ago.

There was also a guest bathroom in the area as well.

From the living room, there was a foyer with three different doors; one for the closet, bathroom and bedroom each.

The closet was generously sized and the butler had placed my bag perfectly in the closet, facing me.

The bedroom was your standard St Regis bedroom. Luxury bedrooms with turndown service already provided.

The bathroom had his and her sink, a generously sized bathtub, a walk-in shower, toilet and a bidet.

Finally, the view of River Nile. While I was glad to have gotten the free upgrade, I did not think the Nile river view room would be worth anything extra that I would pay for.

Lobby

I do not even know if I actually ever saw a lobby at the St Regis Cairo. I did take some pictures as I walked around the hotel, but I never actually saw a typical reception like environment.

St Regis Cairo Morning Coffee Service

As the butler left the room after showing me around, he asked me what time I would like to be worken up, and what drink I would like with the wake-up call. Since I do not drink coffee, I asked for a hot chocolate. He let me know that will be an extra fee, so instead, I asked for an ice-cold bottle of water instead.

When the door bell rang, a few moments after my wake-up call, I was surprised that they had arranged for the hot cholate as previously requested.

In-Room Service

I also took the opportunity to grab some lunch prior to my flight to Vienna that evening. I ordered a pasta and fries. It came with complimentary breads as well. Once again, something I commonly see in fine dining restaurants.

Overall, a delicious meal.

Breakfast at St Regis Cairo

The breakfast offering was once again very generous, and had everything I have ever seen for breakfast offerings, with an additional local selection.

I loved the selection of fresh fruit juices, and the make your own pancake bar where we could decide how we wanted to customize our pancakes.

After eating a very unhealthy breakfast, I asked the staff if he could recommend me something local that is vegetarian. He thought for a minute, then said, do you mind if I bring you my favorite dish, but in my style? I said, absolutely. I did not know what he bought me, but it was delicious.

Conclusion

Wow. Just wow. If I could define a perfect city hotel, it would be the St Regis Cairo. Everything about the stay was perfect, and everything was executed flawlessly.