Review: Hilton Luxor Hotel

Posted By Ben Nickel-D'Andrea on Jul 6, 2016 | 1 comment

Luxor is just a quick one-hour flight down the Nile from Cairo, but it couldn’t be more different. It’s not nearly as populated, not nearly as crowded, and the ruins are completely different from those in Cairo and Giza.

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In December we emailed the Luxor Hilton hotel asking about a hotel pickup service and also if they could arrange any tours for us in Luxor. Within a day or two, the manager of the hotel responded, welcoming us to the hotel and offering us a free shuttle as gold members. He also gave us the email of the representative for the tour guide in the hotel and suggested that we reach out to him directly to discuss tour options.

A quick email to the tour company and we were sent back a PDF file with all the tour options that we could do. Being that we only had the first evening and the next morning, we asked what they suggested to do. The night we arrived we opted to stay in the hotel and enjoy the amazing room service and spa facilities, and for the next day there were two tours that we decided buy. One was a hot air balloon tour over the west bank ruins while the other was a tour of the ruins themselves.  You can see more about those in a future post.  Rest assured, they were some of the most amazing experiences we’d had on the trip so far.

Hilton Luxor Hotel looking out to the West Bank

The manager also mentioned that as a Gold member with the Hilton HHonors program, that they could arrange a free hotel shuttle transfer service to the hotel if we desired (we did). It would make the travel experience getting out of the airport just that much easier. After the $H&^ show in Cairo, I was ready for a much more relaxed and luxurious experience.

When we landed we met Mohammed, who had a sign with our names on it, and they arranged to take us to the resort. Rated the top resort in Luxor, we didn’t know what to expect, but boy were we surprised when we arrived.

Luxor Welcome

The lobby of the Hilton Luxor Hotel is enormous and decorated very elegantly from behind the check in counter to the intricate floor patterns.

Hilton Luxor Lobby

Hilton Luxor Ceiling

Hilton Luxor Checkin

Hilton Luxor Shuttle Schedule

For an extended stay, they offer a free shuttle into the city center 6 times a day.

We got the keys to our room and were escorted up and assited with the luggage. The room was facing the Nile (even though you couldn’t tell in the dark). They also prepared a nice welcome fruit basket for us… but wrapped in the cellophane it lost a little bit of its appeal

Luxor Nile view at night

Hilton Luxor Fruit Basket

We had an early start to the day, so we wanted to relax and get some food and a good night’s rest. Since this is a resort AND spa, we thought it good to head down to the spa for some rest and relaxation.  It also helped that the hotel was pretty empty.  It’s a shame really, considering that a lot of people aren’t traveling to Egypt.  We had nothing but great experiences with the people and never once felt in danger or not secure.

Luxor Spa Entrance

It was a bit chilly at night, but that was OK considering we had our super comfy hotel robes to keep us warm.

There was a heated infinity pool overlooking the Nile, but we could never figure out how to turn on the jacuzzi feature.  We must have spent 5 minutes looking for a button, and the pool attendant only spoke Arabic.  Supposedly it was master controlled, and I doubt that they had it turned on for such a small number of guests.

Hilton Luxor Infinity Pool

Inside they offered an herbal foot spa (warning, I’m gonna show some skin!!)

Hilton Luxor Herbal Foot Spa

Massage area

Hilton Luxor Massage Space

Herbal Bath and Hot Sauna area

Seating area for Foot Bath

Hot stone therapy

For the hot days and nights there was an outdoor herbal/thermal garden where you could relax in the open air with the smells and scents of relaxing herbs. It was too cold at this time of year to enjoy, however.  The nighttime temperature got down to around 45F/7C and in the daytime it was around 75F/24C.

Outdoor Thermal Garden

There was a pretty unique ice dispenser inside the spa as well.

Ice Dispenser in the spa

In the locker room portion there were individual lockers and a full compliment of the Peter Thomas Roth Hilton standard product offering.

Hilton Luxor Lockers

Peter Thomas Roth offerings

I was also “working from home” for my job back in Seattle so I had to be online during the night to coincide with Pacific Time Zone. We had ordered room service while we were in the spa earlier so it would be ready and waiting for us in the room when we returned. Local fish, veggies, rice, and a breadbasket came to about $6 including tax and service charges. Got to love the strength of the US dollar right now.

The next day we were able to see more of the grounds.  They hotel is immense and absolutely no space is left unattended.  The attention to detail is nothing short of amazing.  Just let these pictures speak for themselves.

Panoramic Shot of the Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Hilton Luxor Grounds

Booking

At 20,000 points a night, the Hilton Luxor Hotel one was a no brainer.  The cash rate was $149, so booking with points made the most logical sense.  There were other options available for much less in the area, but I felt that I knew staying at a Hilton we would be treated well as elite members.

Special Thanks

I wanted also to bring particular attention to Veronica from the front desk at the Hilton Luxor Hotel.  She was a great resource and truly made the stay all that much better.  If you find yourself heading to Luxor, make sure to ask for Veronica, as she will make sure that you’re treated as a valued guest!  She even took time to write me personally after the stay to thank me and to make sure that we made it home safe and sound.  Thanks Veronica, and thanks to the Hilton Luxor Hotel Resort and Spa!