My wife and I stayed at Mara's house for 5 nights. The house and location was exactly as described on Mara's website, so there was no surprise. We made all our tour arrangements through someone else. Mara herself was not present during our stay, but then again if you have good personal working for you, it's not necessary to be there all the time. My first complaint is that after arriving from Amman, Jordan (getting up at 3AM), the first thing Amr asked us to settle our bill for the 5 days. Amr told us that breakfast will be served at 7AM, but we made arrangements with our private tour operator to pick us up every morning at 7AM. We really had to beg him to serve breakfast at 6:30 AM. Breakfast is very basic food on a large tray put on small table. Very inconvenient serving yourself. I haven't had instant Nescafe coffee in 30 years, but I had to get used to it for the next few days. On the last day we asked Sahny to call a Taxi to bring us to a Restaurant. After a few minutes I looked outside, and there was a Taxi waiting. My wife and I got into the Taxi when Amr and Sahny came out and told us to get out of the Taxi because this is not the Taxi they called. Well, we didn't get out and they were not happy.
The neighborhood itself looks like a construction zone, dusty and dirty, I don't know why anybody would waste time walking through these neighborhoods with so many interesting things to see in Luxor and vicinity.

Completely different from all the big hotels with their corporate beige interiors. Mara House is a genuinely attractive Egyptian house off the tourist track in the centre of Luxor. Bursting with colour and style, clean, bright and with a friendly welcome.

We stayed in an attractively decorated large double room. Good quality Egyptian cotton sheets and very effective air conditioning. The en suite shower room was large and clean.

Dinner was honestly fantastic - lots of different small dishes and the best soup we tasted during our three week holiday in Egypt. Breakfast comprised tasty fresh bread, cheese, yoghurt and fruit juice.

It is difficult to `star rate` Mara House. We arrived there having just come from the Oberoi Mena House rated the best 5* hotel in Cairo (it was excellent, see my separate review) and so you may wonder why I have also given Mara House 5* rating when its facilities are so obviously different. Well, Mara House is a taste of the real Egypt; something often missing from even the best big hotels. A real travel experience. Something authentically different from the norm. It is also amazing good value for money and I recommend it whole heartedly.

Mara also helped me book internal flights with Egypt Air. She was able to access flights considerably cheaper than I could - and without seeming boastful, I reckon I know my way round airline booking engines!! We also booked a private tour guide though Mara for our three day stay in Cairo. Again, I cannot recommend Mara`s service highly enough. Our guide spoke good English, the car provided for us was clean, air conditioned and fairly new and the driver expertly negotiated the horrendous Cairo traffic.

Do try staying at Mara House in Luxor if you can, you won`t regret it!

Ok, i will be fair here and I am sure Mara herself will rebuff all my comments as she is that sort of type and very defensive. Actually this place is overrated by the reviewers on TA. It is local yes and the neighborhood is interesting if you really want to go local. Mara herself is misleading in quite a few ways- she was in Cairo so anytime we had a request we had to call her as the mgr couldonly speak egyptian, the private tour arranged through her was not private even though she confirmed to other group and us - the other couple said oh well while Mara outright lied to both of us, tour guide had his own ideas where to go and would not take any input ( Muhammed) , Mara could not provide a receipt even though i requested to send by email afterwards- said the computer was down ( on the phone ) when we were checking out but the gentleman taking care of the place in her absence had no problem internet surfing, it was a bit creepy everytime we would leave the room for 5 minutes someone from hotel would come in and turn off he aircon, no water pressure on top floors so go for a lower floor- i am sure they are better options in Luxor and Mara is overpriced and bordering on a scheister!

From the pick up at the airport (charged separately) to the wonderful tour guide and tours to the well-appointed rooms, our stay at Mara House was great!

We arrived early on a Thursday morning and the guide was already at the house ready for the West Bank tour. We requested something light to eat as we had not had breakfast and it was served with warmth and hospitality. We spent the first day on an abbreviated West Bank tour in the comfort of an air conditioned van.

For dinner that night, a taxi pick up was arranged and we ate at an Indian restaurant recommended by Mara. Run by an expat Brit, A Taste of India was delightful and the food was excellent. The cold beer also went down a treat. :)

Friday we took Mara's suggestion and left the house with packed lunches and seven or eight other guests in a large air conditioned bus, from a tour of Abydos and Dendera. Our same knowledgable and friendly guide, Mohammed, accompanied us on this trip as well.

On Friday evening, we ate at the Mara House restaurant and enjoyed an Egyptian feast. We left, happy, on Saturday morning.

I can highly recommend Mara House both for its accommodation and arranging of tours. In fact, I already have.