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Egyptian Hotels Tighten Security As Tension Spreads to Tourist Areas

Not a sight you want to see from your hotel room

So we’re guessing that Egypt isn’t top of your must do travel list for the near future, because although things are looking a lot better for the remaining tourists than the locals, the situation sounds nothing if not grim.

Although we haven’t seen any specific hotels named since the Sheraton was caught in the middle of the fray last week, in Cairo, there are tales of hotels locking their doors, shutting down elevators, telling tourists to take shelter on the roof and posting guards armed with water cannons in case flares are shot at the buildings, while the tourists gather to watch the protests and sip on free drinks laid on by the hotel.

It’s not just Cairo, either. According to CNN, “tension is beginning to build” in tourist hotspot Luxor, too. And last night, it appeared that security was being stepped up in holiday central Sharm El Sheikh, with a BBC correspondent reporting that by the time he came back from dinner, his hotel had been "barricaded".

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Hotel Hell / Hilton Hotels / Sharm El Sheikh Hotels / Egypt Hotels / → All Tags

Why We Won't Be Staying at the Hilton Fayrouz in Sharm El Sheikh

Where: Naama Bay, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Let us preface this post by saying that we are not hotel snobs. We can take just as much pleasure in spending the night in a bamboo shack on the beach (more of that tomorrow) as we do checking out the latest fancypants hotel (although we’ll make sure we’re wearing full-cover, Damian Barr-style PJs in the shack – just to make sure of those sheets).

However, if a hotel is trading under a brand like, oh, say, Hilton, we do expect it to be a certain standard. And that standard is a little higher than a lobby that makes us want to run straight back to the airport:

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Hotel Video Tours / Four Seasons Hotels / Sharm El Sheikh Hotels / Egypt Hotels / → All Tags

When 67 Steps Are 67 Too Many: The Funicular at Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh

Where: 1 Four Seasons Boulevard, Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai, Egypt

Note: This video is about two minutes and 20 seconds long, which is how long the funicular ride is. Enjoy!

You know the drill: you’re on holiday, you’re feeling kinda lazy, lying by the pool is great but hauling your bod back to your room is a trial.

Luckily, the folk at the Four Seasons in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, feel your pain, as we found out when we stayed there last week*. The resort is built over five levels running down the cliffside to the Red Sea below. Which is ace, because it gives buckets of space for the 200+ rooms (they’re self-enclosed little cottages), meaning that the resort feels half-empty even when it’s at full capacity as it was while we were there.

The downside, of course, is that with the pool and beach at the bottom of the resort, the reception and restaurants at the top and the rooms in between, your day could involve a lot of walking, which would hardly be conducive to a holiday state of mind.

There are 67 steps between the pool and the lobby – a lot for holiday feet. So to avoid over-stretching your calves (it’s hot, after all), they’ve had a funicular railway shipped over from Sweden to lug your sunburnt bones back to your room. It goes up and down all day, the journey takes just over two minutes and, as you can see from the video, gives you some pretty nice views of the resort.

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