Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the First Residence

Perfectly acceptable stay. Rooms and the pool terrace restaurants are a bit dated. Dinner at Le Petit Chef was very good. I was disappointed the concierge was unable to make a reservation at the 9 Pyramids Lounge. We had a meal at the other Four Seasons which looked much nicer but is costlier.

I chose this hotel based on price. I have stayed at the RC before and wasn't wowed. That, and the St Regis were coming in $150 higher on the relevant date, and my stay was very short. So this made sense. I don't think I would stay again. Pros: - good service (in theory) compared to the Cairo norm - the usual wonderfully comfortable FS bed - location isn't bad, and it has nice views in either direction But - I say service in theory, because it wasn't holding up in practice. My welcome amenity had a nice looking tart topped with a raspberry. Only after eating half, was the mould inside the raspberry (very) visible - My bathroom shower gel was empty. I asked for it to be refilled - explaining that I would be in the spa for 2 hours and then needed to shower. I returned to my room having been serviced and started to shower assuming they had done it. They had not... Neither of those service fails should be happening in a FS - definitely not in the space of a couple of hours. The food I ate in the Lebanese restaurant was straight from a freezer and v mediocre. I am absolutely certain there is no real chef (the batata harra was breakfast potatoes with lemon juice on). I should have worked out the 'empty restaurant, long menu' red flag. But billing this as Cairo's finest Lebanese is - at best - "ambitious".

It was the worst stay for me in a “Luxury brand” the same was shared with the staff upon check out where I was in touch with the second highlight of my whole stay “Cheif Concierge Sharif” who tried to ensure that I won’t leave while unhappy and unsatisfied, which was not the same with the entire Housekeeping management team “the director and the assistant director” who did not care or bothered with one of the issues I faced during my stay in the hotel. Housekeeping is a daily miss except and careless of guests items for one day in one of the shifts where I really felt the room was cleaned properly and it was “Hajjaj” The room is spacious and the layout is nice as it is assemble a suite in a way. The big negative thing is the daily issues I had with the housekeeping: 1-they never refill the coffee amenities where I am always on a daily basis forced to call housekeeping for the refill for certain items; which show and extreme lack of customer needs knowledge or expectations. 2-everyday I place one of the bathrobes on the floor while I did not use it, and whoever cleans the room put it back on the hanger as new bathrobe to be used, it was dirty upon my check in with makeup on it while I did not use it at all and the housekeeping staff did not bother to think about the hygiene by putting a bathrobe from the floor of the bathroom to be used and on why I kept putting it on the floor everyday without using; shows lack of care. 3-one of the days, the housekeeping who cleaned the room seemed that he/she ran away from something; as the coffee amenities where empty, the toilet rolls where finished and not replaced, the towels were removed to be washed but not replaced and there was no refill/replacement of the complimentary water bottles! This is not acceptable in any level of hotels from economy to luxury and from one to five stars. 4-the biggest issue I faced was: the housekeeping breaking my hair straightener and keeping it as nothing happened for me to find out; where I went down the reception office with the picture of the broken straightener where the reception staff took my room number and asked me to wait for someone, then the below happened: a) the assistant director of housekeeping came to the reception floor and asked me about the issue where I showed him the pictures and said I will be in the cafe and the room is not on DND they can go amd check it physically and he said will check and call me on my mobile, b) I received a call 50 minutes later from the assistant director where he apologized for what happened and offered to buy a new straightener which I refused as the one I had was from Selfridges in London and was expensive (600£), he said he will check with the management and call me back. c) 30 minutes later I received another call from the director of house keeping apologizing for what happened and mentioning that they have reprimanded the housekeeping staff and they are very sorry for what happened then he kept quite insinuating that I should be satisfied now and that’s it, then I told him “so?” Where he repeated what he said, and again I said “then?” Here he said would it be fine by you for us to take your broken straightener and replace the broken part? Where I said no and cannot happen as the company would be different 100% since it is from abroad and if it did brake again I cannot fix it with the company as it was tampered with in another company, then the director said ok will see the management and call you back. d) Three full days pass by and no one calls nor pass by my room on the same, where I went to the reception and highlighted this and the staff took my room number for a call back but again no one called nor passed by my room. e) On my check out day when I was asked how was my stay I shared that it was the worst and the staff “Sharif - Cheif Concierge” tried his best but I refused without hearing what I would be compensated with and I said “I will for sure write the full feedback as this hotel was recommended to me by someone who knows the owner and promised me that I will enjoy it” but he insisted to try to compensate me and offered the airport drop off to be on the hotel, where I agreed but said that I will be sharing the feedback as I cannot believe the level of how much unconcerned the management was with a guest.

Arrived at the hotel which has its own bay for parking right outside, the team swiftly greeted us and helped us with our luggage inside, through security we went (this is very normal in Egypt) and we checked into room 1218. I noticed straight away the friendly staff and huge display of fresh flowers in reception. The room was immaculately clean, with large windows facing out over the zoo opposite and views in the distance of the mighty pyramids. 1218 came with a large bed which was SO comfy, fluffy towels & robes too. There was a large bath which I made full use of and plenty of complimentary products to use. The room also has a large TV, safe, hairdryer & very good iron which I did use for my shirts for dinner. There is also tea & coffee making facilities. When booking this hotel I emailed them to let them know it was booked as a birthday treat for my partner. One night we came back to a massive happy birthday pillow on the bed and possibly the best tasting birthday cake for us to share - this really was very thoughtful. Venture down to the pool and you’ll find it heated and very inviting. Around the pool there are little rooms for guests to use with sofas & TVs inside, you can sit here and eat in the day or evening which we did and just relaxed. If you use the sun loungers a cool box of ice will be delivered to the table next to you with fresh water inside. There are ample fresh towels to use so don’t worry about bringing the towels from your room down to the pool. We explored the hotel quite a bit, full shopping mall is under the hotel, we didn’t personally buy anything there but for some people looking for gifts it would be ideal. We went into another bar in the hotel one night and it’s like a sports bar with free pool which we took full advantage of and really enjoyed the vibe. The staff at this hotel will go over and above for you to make sure your stay is perfect. No ask is too big or too small, you really can just sit back and relax. If you dine on the boat which is semi attached to the hotel you will be whisked down by car which takes only 30 seconds or so, I imagine this is for guest safety as when we arrived at the boat there were a few beggars etc but nothing scary so don’t panic, the car just makes you feel even more special. The food on the boat was great, I had Chinese and my partner Indian and we enjoyed both. Each night the staff do turn down service, new waters are put in the room, bed turned down, curtains drawn and room cleaned again. I loved this after a busy day exploring Cairo or coming in from a meal it just felt like you could instantly relax. Location wise this hotel was about an hour from the airport. With uber it worked out at about £6 - amazing right! Things like the pyramids and museums ranged from 20 - 40 mins away which for us was fine. I’ll finish this review by simply stating this hotel blew me away. I am well travelled and the level of service and cleanliness was top notch. A big shout out to the reception team, our room attendant & the team working the pool area you were all amazing. If I was ever back in Cairo I would book here no questions asked and would recommend it to anyone wanting to know where to stay. Remember to tip the staff - 50 Egyptian pounds is £1 UK sterling so use the machines inside the hotel to get your Egyptian pounds out! 👌🏻 10/10!

The Four Seasons is a haven of tranquility in the madness of Cairo’s traffic and general chaos. The five restaurants offer a wide range of food and very competitive prices and we also had a lovely room. They advise you not to try crossing the road but even provide a car for safe transport to the nearest one! Highly recommended!