- Introduction: Around The World For Allegris
- Review: Delta Sky Club Miami Airport (MIA)
- Review: Delta First Class Boeing 737 (MIA-MSP)
- Review: Delta First Class Airbus A319 (MSP-YVR)
- Review: Lufthansa Allegris Business Class Airbus A350 (YVR-MUC)
- Review: EgyptAir Business Class Airbus A320neo (MUC-CAI)
- Review: Le Meridien Cairo Airport, Egypt
- Review: Kuwait Airways First Class Airbus A330 (CAI-KWI)
For the first hotel stay of my Allegris round the world journey, I had a quick overnight at the 349-room Le Meridien Cairo Airport. I travel through Cairo fairly often thanks to the great premium fares available out of Egypt, and over the years I’ve stayed at the Le Meridien several times.
I really like the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, perhaps more than I should. It has an unbeatable location (connected directly to Terminal 3), and the hotel has a large selection of food and beverage outlets. As an early riser who loves coffee, I also appreciate the breakfast and coffee situation at the hotel. The Le Meridien also has a pool, solid gym, and club lounge.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some amazing luxury property. The hotel opened in 2013, and hasn’t undergone a significant renovation since then, so the property is getting to the point where it could use a refresh. Furthermore, as I find to be common in much of Egypt, there’s at least a slight smell of cigarettes just about everywhere.
In this post:
Booking the Le Meridien Cairo Airport
I paid cash for my stay at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, and the rate was around $150 all-in. That seems reasonable enough by international standards, given how much hotel rate inflation we’ve seen in recent years.
Of course I could have redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points for the stay, though the requirement was 23,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for the night I was staying. I value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so I decided to pay cash and save my points for a stay where I can get outsized value.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport location
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has an unbeatable location if you’re arriving at or departing from the airport. The hotel is connected directly to Terminal 3, which is the terminal primarily occupied by EgyptAir. There’s an interior bridge that takes you from the arrivals area of the terminal directly to the hotel (where there’s then a security check you have to go through).
If you’re arriving at or departing from another terminal, there’s a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes from the hotel. Meanwhile if you’re arriving at the airport at another terminal and need to get to the Le Meridien, the hotel will also pick you up, but you should schedule that in advance.
I was arriving at Terminal 3 on EgyptAir, and departing from Terminal 2 on Kuwait Airways, so I could take the bridge to the hotel upon my arrival in the evening, and then take a shuttle transfer in the morning.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport lobby & check-in
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a large lobby area with lots of seating, which connects the various parts of the hotel, including the food and beverage outlets, gym, and more.
There are multiple individual desks where check-in is offered. I was helped immediately, and the check-in process took just a few minutes. The associate reminded me of the hotel’s amenities, and informed me that I had been upgraded to a club room, on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status.
With keys in hand, I headed to the elevators, just a short walk away, and went to the fifth floor.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport guest room
I was assigned room 558, a club king room. Upon exiting the elevator I turned left, and then my room was about halfway down the hall and on the right.
Standard rooms at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport are marketed as being 355 square feet (33 square meters), so they’re about average in terms of size. My room featured an entryway with closets on the left, and then the bathroom on the right, with the rest of the room straight ahead.
In the main part of the room was a king size bed, which was super comfortable, and had the typical Le Meridien sheets.
Across from the bed was a wall-mounted TV, as well as a desk area with two chairs.
Waiting on the desk was a welcome amenity, with some fruit and sweets.
Then next to the bed there was a chair with an ottoman.
Back near the entrance was a kettle, with a complimentary selection of Dilmah tea and Nescafe instant coffee.
The bathroom featured a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the shower setup for a couple of reasons. For one, I don’t like these showers that have half a shield, since water sprays all over the bathroom. Furthermore, I found the water temperature hard to control, as the dial was really sensitive.
Toiletries were from MALIN+GOETZ, and were in wall-mounted containers.
I liked the impressive variety of other toiletries, from a dental kit to mouthwash, which other hotels often require you to call down to the front desk to request.
My room looked out at the terminal, so it wasn’t the most exciting view on earth.
Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free. All-in-all, I was very happy with the room. The room is definitely showing a bit more wear and tear than my last stay several years back, but that’s to be expected.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport gym
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a 24/7 gym, located just off the lobby. The gym isn’t huge, but has a lot of equipment in it that’s fairly modern. The gym also doesn’t have any windows — that didn’t bother me, since I worked out in the middle of the night, so it’s not like there was anything to see anyway.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport pool
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has an outdoor pool, open from sunrise to sunset. I’m not a pool person, but I’m sure some people will appreciate the ability to go for a swim, especially given Cairo’s warm temperatures for much of the year.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport club lounge
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a club lounge on the fifth floor, which I had access to, on account of my status. The lounge is open 24/7, which is awesome, since you can grab a soft drink or a cup of coffee any hour of the day or night.
The lounge isn’t very big, so I imagine it gets busy during peak service hours, given how many people have access to Marriott club lounges.
As far as service in the lounge goes, there’s breakfast available from 7AM until 10AM, light snacks from 12PM until 5PM, and the evening happy hour from 6PM until 8PM. I arrived too late to check out the evening happy hour. Furthermore, for breakfast, club guests have the opportunity to instead have breakfast in the restaurant, so that’s what I did.
When I visited the lounge in the middle of the night, it had a selection of coffee, tea, soft drinks, and light snacks.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport 24/7 cafe
As someone who loves coffee and keeps a strange schedule (especially on these kinds of trips), one of my favorite things about the Le Meridien Cairo Airport is Latitude Coffee Bar. This is the hotel’s lobby bar, and it’s open 24/7.
In addition to a full bar setup, Latitude Coffee Bar also offers barista coffee and pastries. How great to be able to grab a barista coffee any hour of the day or the night. The fact that I had a voucher for a free espresso or cappuccino in the room was the icing on the cake, as I could enjoy a drink without even paying for it.
Le Meridien Cairo Airport breakfast
The Le Meridien Cairo Airport serves breakfast at EVOO, which is the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant, one level below the lobby. As a club guest, I could have breakfast here, and that’s exactly what I did. The restaurant is quite large, so I can’t imagine it ever gets overcrowded, especially as there’s also outdoor seating.
What’s most noteworthy about breakfast at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport is the hours, as it’s served from 4AM until 10:30AM. That’s right, the hotel has a full breakfast buffet at 4AM, which is just about unheard of.
I couldn’t help but arrive at breakfast at 4AM, since I had never seen anything like this before. I sat there for about an hour, and had the place all to myself, until shortly before I left.
The breakfast buffet in the restaurant exceeded my expectations, with a huge variety of Middle Eastern and Western options. The quality was quite good, with all kinds of freshly baked bread and pastries, fruit, yogurt, cold cuts, and several hot dishes.
Drinks were great as well, from freshly squeezed orange juice, to cappuccinos. The servers working in the restaurant were friendly, and kept checking on me (it probably helped that I had the place to myself).
Le Meridien Cairo Airport food & beverage outlets
Above I covered Latitude Bar and EVOO Restaurant, but there are other food and beverage outlets as well, which I didn’t visit.
There’s also Mezzeh Restaurant, which is a Lebanese restaurant that’s open for dinner, and is probably the most high end restaurant at the hotel. There’s also China Red, a Chinese restaurant that’s open for dinner.
Lastly, there’s Live Sports Bar, which is open late into the night. My gosh, people were getting absolutely hammered here, as I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of elevator rides with people leaving here. I also heard live music coming from inside there. At first I thought it was someone intentionally doing very bad karaoke, but then I realized that there was actually a performer (well, at least I assume so, since I heard the same voicer 30 minutes later). Oops.
Bottom line
I’m fond of the Le Meridien Cairo Airport. It’s the most convenient airport hotel in Cairo, and the hotel has an excellent breakfast buffet that starts at 4AM, a coffee shop that’s open 24/7, a pool, a gym, a club lounge, and more.
Whenever I have an overnight in Cairo that’s less than 18 hours or so, I stay here, rather than going into the city, given the traffic. While this is by no means some modern luxury hotel, it’s one I enjoy returning to.
What’s your take on the Le Meridien Cairo Airport?
My husband and I stayed there in March before our looonnnngggg flight home (CAI-LHR-SEA), due to the very early departure. Great hotel, nice staff, but apparently the Lebanese restaurant is closed on Mondays and there's no sign. I know.... gadzooks. But we wanted to be in bed early and had waited to have dinner until that restaurant opened at 7:00 only to show up and find it still dark! We had to go to the...
My husband and I stayed there in March before our looonnnngggg flight home (CAI-LHR-SEA), due to the very early departure. Great hotel, nice staff, but apparently the Lebanese restaurant is closed on Mondays and there's no sign. I know.... gadzooks. But we wanted to be in bed early and had waited to have dinner until that restaurant opened at 7:00 only to show up and find it still dark! We had to go to the front desk to ask in order to find out it was closed. The Chinese restaurant was excellent though. We found the room to be comfortable and QUIET which was a huge plus in an airport hotel. I agree with Ben on those half shower dividers - there's no way to avoid water getting everywhere. I do wish we had stayed longer to really explore, but it was a nice stop, and convenient to get to the airport early in the morning. We'd been in Egypt for a month and the whole trip was AMAZING.
I have stayed here many times. My only issue with this hotel is the airfreshners. They spray vile toxic air freshners straight in your face as you leave the elevator. When I stayed three nights recently, I developed a throat irritation and became sick from the air freshener constantly sprayed at me. Spoke to reception many times about this and they dont seem to care for your health. Also, don't eat the buffet during Ramadan....
I have stayed here many times. My only issue with this hotel is the airfreshners. They spray vile toxic air freshners straight in your face as you leave the elevator. When I stayed three nights recently, I developed a throat irritation and became sick from the air freshener constantly sprayed at me. Spoke to reception many times about this and they dont seem to care for your health. Also, don't eat the buffet during Ramadan. Majority of our tour group got food poisoning.
Ben, when you're in a developing country like Egypt, do you ever brush your teeth with bottled water? Do you avoid eating salads or anything rinsed in tap water?
I've had some bad cases of food poisoning while traveling in developing countries, so since then I've erred on the side of caution. Curious to here your thoughts/experience!
I've never gotten sick brushing my teeth with tap water and then spitting out the water. I use alcoholic mouthwash after brushing, however.
You did an excellent job of keeping people out of your photos....It's almost scary!
As I remember, although it can be a long walk, one can walk from the other terminals to the hotel. I know I walked on along the roadway once (which as stated below can be difficult with luggage), but I think they let me into terminal 3 to walk over the bridge. Fairly sure I did that when leaving the hotel.
As to the comment on USB ports, always safest to use your own charger and not use the USB ports.
Why not use USB outlets?
Because there's now malware that can infect your devices from USB ports. Nothing's safe any more.
Egyptair put me up at Le Meridian after the London flight arrived too late for my onward connection. I found the staff most helpful and nothing was too much trouble. The facilities available were top quality. I just wished I had more time to enjoy the hotel.
Sometimes they have weddings and it can last until late. It is very noisy. Actually they do actively seek wedding deals in Cairo.
Great review Ben and very timely for me as I'll be staying at Le Meridien Cairo in November for just one night with my mom (who's 79) for the convenience of being right at the airport. We arrive in Cairo at 5:55 AM on Egyptair so my idea is to get 6 ~ 7 hours of sleep in the hotel, then take a Uber to central Cairo to stay at the Cairo Marriott for the...
Great review Ben and very timely for me as I'll be staying at Le Meridien Cairo in November for just one night with my mom (who's 79) for the convenience of being right at the airport. We arrive in Cairo at 5:55 AM on Egyptair so my idea is to get 6 ~ 7 hours of sleep in the hotel, then take a Uber to central Cairo to stay at the Cairo Marriott for the rest of our trip. If I were by myself I would just go to the main hotel and walk around/wait for the check-in time. All of this considering I'm Bonvoy Platinum so should be able to get a 4:00 PM late check-out; have you ever requested this late check-out benefit at Le Meridien Cairo or have you heard of any issues?
While the room decor is a little tired and I noticed, from the photos, a lack of USB photos and only a limited number of electrical outlets, this could be a great place to spend a night or two. Especially with the resort-esque outdoor pool.
Truly, this looks like an EXCELLENT hotel by any standard. A solid 4 stars. It reminds me of the Le Meridien at Kuala Lumpur's main train station. Another equally impressive...
While the room decor is a little tired and I noticed, from the photos, a lack of USB photos and only a limited number of electrical outlets, this could be a great place to spend a night or two. Especially with the resort-esque outdoor pool.
Truly, this looks like an EXCELLENT hotel by any standard. A solid 4 stars. It reminds me of the Le Meridien at Kuala Lumpur's main train station. Another equally impressive property.
I love the 24/7 coffee bar and 4 a.m. restaurant breakfast. It makes total sense given the weird arrival and departure times in the Middle East and Gulf. For the life of me, I don't understand why more AIRPORT hotels don't have at least coffee by 5 a.m. Even downtown city center hotels -- it's amazing how many have NOTHING until 7 a.m.
There are no shortage of Marriott hotels in Cairo. In fact, I believe there's a SECOND Le Meridien. So, maybe management feel the need to go the extra mile to poach customers from other less-generous properties?
This property also illustrates how weird Le Meridien is as a brand. It's completely ignored and forgotten by Marriott. You have some great Le Meridiens, like this one and Kuala Lumpur, but then you have the Denver Le Meridien that is basically a step above a Courtyard or AC but below a Westin or Renaissance.
One of my weirdest hotel stays ever was in Dakar. Being my first visit to Africa and landing at a stupid time (01:45 or something), I decided to opt for an airport hotel and thought that the Meridien would be a solid option. While it met my top priority of getting me from the airport to my bed quickly and safely, it was in urgent need of refurbishment with peeling paint, electrical issues etc, and...
One of my weirdest hotel stays ever was in Dakar. Being my first visit to Africa and landing at a stupid time (01:45 or something), I decided to opt for an airport hotel and thought that the Meridien would be a solid option. While it met my top priority of getting me from the airport to my bed quickly and safely, it was in urgent need of refurbishment with peeling paint, electrical issues etc, and the following evening the bar was completely overrun by prostitutes and devoid of other customers - I have not seen anything else like that in hundreds of hotels I have visited across all continents. I moved to a more central hotel which ended up being very very good, if rather pricey (the Meridien wasn't cheap either).
Well, it looks like the Le Meridien in Dakar is no longer a Le Meridien.
Not surprised - my surreal experience happened about 15 years ago and even the airport has been replaced by a new facility in a totally different location.
This hotel (or at least its free wifi) saved me when we arrived in Cairo early one morning. Our SIM cards were not working, I couldn't connect to any airport wifi and the tour guide that was supposed to meet me out front of the airport was nowhere to be seen. After 30-45 minutes of trying to find the tour guide while also simultaneously fending off aggressive touts, I lugged my suitcases across the road...
This hotel (or at least its free wifi) saved me when we arrived in Cairo early one morning. Our SIM cards were not working, I couldn't connect to any airport wifi and the tour guide that was supposed to meet me out front of the airport was nowhere to be seen. After 30-45 minutes of trying to find the tour guide while also simultaneously fending off aggressive touts, I lugged my suitcases across the road to the Le Meridien hotel parking lot close enough to get on the wifi to contact my tour guide and get it all straightened out.
The property is often a very good value on points. And its convenience when flying into or out of CAI is great.
For people wanting a tour of Cairo and the surroundings, you could even base yourself out of this hotel and just hire a private tour guide to do the tours while staying at this hotel.
That gym seems rather large for a standard airport hotel. Looks like a great property for what it is!
Good to know about the shuttle to T2. When I stayed there & left on Etihad, I walked to T2 along the roadway w/ mu luggage… not fun LOL