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Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
On the historic Semiramis hotel site, guests can enjoy modern luxury by the river Nile. Semiramis InterContinental Cairo is located in the heart of downtown Cairo, next to the Egyptian Museum and Khan el Khalili. After a day of exploration, guests can unwind with a swim in our rooftop pool, indulge in wellness at Semiramis Spa, experience exquisite cuisine at our nine distinct signature restaurants, and take in extraordinary sunset views over the Nile.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel, delights guests with its elegant atmosphere and scenic views of the Nile, complemented by an array of amenities and a prime location close to major attractions. However, some travelers feel the value for money falls short, pointing to overpriced services and concerns with room upkeep.
While the hotel's cleanliness and professional staff earn praise, the noise from construction and entertainment areas, alongside inconsistent service, can detract from the overall experience.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Dated
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Spotless
Noise level
Noisy
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Top-notch
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We stayed at the hotel in October 2024, marking our third visit, and it was by far the best experience yet. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The hotel is ideally located, and our room was comfortable, spotless, and featured a balcony with a stunning view of the River Nile.
We made good use of the club lounge, where the staff were consistently welcoming, polite, and helpful. Special thanks to Abdel Naser, Hatem, Walid, and Doaa Tarek, whose warm hospitality made our visit even more enjoyable.
However, we noted two areas for improvement. Firstly, there was no decaffeinated tea available, which would be a welcome addition. Secondly, while smoking in the club lounge was permitted only at certain times, we still felt this posed a risk to vulnerable guests and children due to exposure to second-hand smoke. We would recommend designating a separate area for smokers to enhance the comfort and well-being of all guests.
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Guest Relations, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Nov 11, 2024
Dear Mr.Excursion29547156472, Thank you so much for your review of our hotel. I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. It's something our staff takes great pride in, so we value your feedback. We hope you will visit us again. Sincerely, Reem Zidane Guest Relations Team
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A wonderful stay with a caring professional staff. The location is also amazing, walking distance to the Egyptian Museum, Zamalek, and Tahrir square. Thank you to all the staff for making our stay memorable and a special thank you to Anna for guiding us and giving us a lot of tips about where to go and what to eat.
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Date of stay: June 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Haidy Ashraf, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Jun 24, 2023
Dear Mr./Mrs. Kinouche2013, Thank you so much for your review of our hotel. I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. It's something our staff takes great pride in, so we value your feedback. We hope you will visit us again. Sincerely, Reem Zidane Guest Relations Team
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I’m writing this review a night before leaving Cairo and I’m sad to be leaving. We had such a wonderful stay at the Intercontinental Hotel Semiramis in Cairo. This is a beautiful and elegant hotel with a perfect location on the Corniche just minutes walk away from several attractions. The drive to/from the Airport is hardly 30 minutes despite heavy traffic. The beautiful views of the Nile both during the day and at night add to the charm of the hotel. The lobby area is elegant and inviting. Security is pretty tight which can be cumbersome if you’re coming in or going out regularly during the day, however, it leaves you feeling secure and relaxed knowing that you’re in a safe environment. I certainly appreciated the attention to guests’ safety. I felt very comfortable walking around in the vicinity whether it was a walk along the Nile, or across Qasr-e-Nile Bridge, or walking back after a trip to the museum which is just a stone’s throw away from the hotel. Our room was nicely appointed with regular amenities like Coffee/tea, a locker, hair dryer, plush robes/slippers, and toiletries. Our laundry was done as requested and brought back promptly. A heater was brought up swiftly when I called to inquire on the thermostat’s correct setting. We opted to pay ahead for the daily breakfast buffet at the Night & Day restaurant throughout our stay, which turned out to be a great decision. Our dinner at the Birdcage Thai restaurant one night was also quite delightful. The live music in the lobby is beautiful and relaxing. The Corniche Cafe is a cozy little spot for a quick coffee/tea or a quick bite. I would highly recommend this beautiful hotel for a hassle-free and comfortable stay in Cairo.
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Haidy Ashraf, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Jan 9, 2024
"Thank you so much for your review of our hotel. I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. It's something our staff takes great pride in, so we value your feedback. We hope you will visit us again. Sincerely, Omar Bakr Guest Relations.
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It is a beautiful structure with many 5-star services, much appreciated the swimming pool, the attached terrace where you can dine or enjoy a drink listening to live music, the indoor bar also with live music. Also friendly and helpful staff. The breakfast was excellent. Room cleaning is a bit lacking, the service is a bit inattentive, the room service trays that stay in the corridors for a long time. Good location is magnificent view of the Nile from the room. Egyptian museum 600 m, metro Sadat 500 m.
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Automatically translated
Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Le camere vista Nilo da preferire.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
It's difficult to find a positive thing about this experience. Problems immediately upon arrival. Group of 9 people, with 3 rooms already booked and paid for: two quadruple rooms and a single room, we find 3 triple rooms. Half an hour or more to solve the problem. Old rooms, in ours the absence of a power socket in the bathroom stood out (so we were forced to dry our hair in the room), two sockets completely removed from the wall with exposed wires (with two small children it's not the best) jour with broken plug, sliding wardrobe door not sliding. Shower-tub with fixed wall-mounted shower head, I, who am 1.86 m, was forced to kneel down to stand underneath. Let's move on to room service: in a week we never changed the glasses in the mini bar or even the cups, we were forced to wash them ourselves every time we used them. Never put new shower gel or shampoo in the shower, we always had to request them. Every evening I check the mini bar resulting in a person passing by with POS in hand to get paid (they were afraid that we would run away without paying)? Found dirty cleaning cloth placed on the desk, thrown on the terrace and remained there for 3 days. Breakfast: excellent, perhaps the only positive thing (together, I must admit, with the restaurants) but even there the service bordered on the surreal. Time immemorial to bring coffee, plates removed from the table even before the diner had finished. Every 5 minutes request for a review on google, which frankly, given the situation, I would have frankly avoided.... At check out another half hour wasted checking the mini bars AGAIN... half an hour, not 10 minutes. In short, a nice, very dated place that is very badly managed. I won't go back.
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Date of stay: December 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This hotel is by far the worst I have ever stayed in Cairo. I considered giving a rating of 1/5 but in the end I think it would be a bit too harsh because the hotel has two positives: the hotel is centrally located, and the club lounge looks good, so I gave 2/5.
The negatives are numerous however. The main issue is that the hotel is dated, very dated. First off I am not a fan of having the shower in the bathtub but to make matters worse the tub itself was in dire need of being replaced as it was peeling off. To add insult to injury the tub did not drain properly so when taking a shower the water level rose quickly. Conrad Cairo was another hotel in that price range which used to be unrenovated but they recently completed thorough renovations of all their rooms so now it knocks the socks off of IC Semiramis which is a laggard.
As IHG Diamond I did not receive a suite upgrade despite many suite types being available online. This is in sharp contrast with many other hotels in Cairo which proactively upgrade to suites, including the other InterCon which is in Citystars so different location. With the weak upgrade at IC Semiramis it compounded the already poor value for the money due to the aging room.
Then there was the club lounge. As mentioned above it looked good, but that's the only positive there is to say about it. In terms of both food & beverage, it was the worst offering I have seen in Cairo of of multiple hotels I stayed which have a lounge: Le Meridien, Renaissance, Conrad, Fairmont, JW Marriott, and InterContinental Citystars, to name a few. At IC Semiramis the buffet had uninspiring bite size appetizers and no hot food. The hot food was served separately and was mostly fried junk. In a city where restaurants are so cheap, for this IC to provide such junk was shocking. For drinks it was beer and (bad) wine plus limited liquor, nothing that would stand out. Overall it was so bad that I skipped happy hour entirely after the first night and did not even go back. Breakfast in the lounge was barely better. The menu was weaker than many other lounge menus I have seen in Cairo so similar argument as above.
The strong point of the IC hotel brand is rarely the rooms in my experience, it's the lounges which are better than other chains such as Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt. But at IC Semiramis, that was unfortunately not the case.
All in all I found this IC to be drastically overpriced for what it offers compared to the competition and I am very unlikely to set foot again in that property until renovations are done. There are plenty of better non-IHG choices in this area, and if I want to stay with IHG then the other IC is much better.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Haidy Ashraf, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Jun 1, 2024
Dear Mr./Mrs. WorldWideTravel88, Thank you for your candid review. We apologize that your recent stay did not meet expectations. We appreciate your comments and apologizes for the inconveniences you faced during your stay, as that is not up to our normal standards. Our hotel does review and address these situations very carefully and will share your feedback with our staff and make the necessary changes. Again, we regret that this impacted your experience at our hotel and hope to offer you a more pleasant stay in the future, so we can show you our true level of service. Sincerely, Haidy Ashraf Guest Relations Supervisor
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Great place, good location, and nice food I enjoyed my stay there and I'll keep it my first destination in Cairo The staff's attention to detail and genuine hospitality truly stood out. Whether it was the concierge assisting with local recommendations or the housekeeping team ensuring our room was a haven of comfort, every interaction was marked by professionalism and a genuine commitment to guest satisfaction.
The hotel's central location made exploring Cairo convenient, and the concierge's insights enhanced our cultural experiences. The pool and fitness facilities added an extra layer of enjoyment to our stay.
The rooftop restaurant is a bit expensive
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Haidy Ashraf, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Nov 14, 2023
Dear Mr. Mohamed S, Thank you so much for your review of our hotel. I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. It's something our staff takes great pride in, so we value your feedback. We hope you will visit us again. Sincerely, Haidy Ashraf Guest Relations Supervisor
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During our recent hotel stay, we encountered several issues. Initially, we were given a room with two full beds instead of the two queen beds we had booked. Additionally, the hotel’s system mistakenly listed only three guests, omitting our 15-year-old child. The reception staff seemed untrustworthy, attempting to upsell us on a room for three, falsely claiming our child wasn't in the system.
The hotel lacked a family-friendly environment, with numerous young, intoxicated individuals loitering in the lobby and nearby areas throughout the day and late into the night. Room service was slow and unresponsive, and we struggled to sleep due to loud music from nearby bars and restaurants. Moreover, the maintenance team conducted marble work overnight on three separate occasions, using cutting discs that disrupted our sleep. The food was expensive and did not meet expectations; we found it better to use outside delivery services
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Haidy Ashraf, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Aug 21, 2024
Dear Mr. Tareq, Thank you for your candid review. We apologize that your recent stay did not meet expectations. We appreciate your comments and apologizes for the inconveniences you faced during your stay, as that is not up to our normal standards. Our hotel does review and address these situations very carefully. We are currently working to make enhancements to deliver a more comfortable stay for all of our guests. Again, we regret that this impacted your experience at our hotel and hope to offer you a more pleasant stay in the future. Sincerely, Haidy Ashraf Guest Relations Supervisor
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have no idea why this hotel is a part of IHG ? Cairo Intercontinental AKA Somkeynental is the worst Intercontinental I have ever stayed in. The hotel is old and run down. Before you enter the hotel you will find bunch of people smoking at the entrance. When you’re in the lobby, there are lots of No Smoking signs but ashtrays are provided, is this a joke?? After a long wait, I was given an upgrade to a SMOKING SUITE, the same story as the first time which is less than 2 months. I thought they would or should know by now that I am sensitive to smoke smell. And by the way it is in my profile as a platinum elite member. I asked to speak to the manager he came to see my after a long wait and said I can go to my regular in the Non-Smoking floor and he will call me the next day and he will sort me out. And the receptionist said she will send me a coffee machine also, guess what?? No one called and no Coffee machine was sent. Went to my room, the smell was horrible and the carpet was old and smelly. Every thing in the room is old really old and not functioning properly. The taps in the bathroom are from the 70s with separate hot and cold handles. The bidet tap and handles are jammed so you can’t use it. The soap bar holder is rusty. I do not recommend this hotel at all.
Bad management, it’s run by bunch of kids they have no idea about hospitality business. For that price it’s better to stay elsewhere.
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Breakfast is not worth. It took 15 minutes to get a cappuccino
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Guest Relations, Guest Services / Front Office at InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, an IHG hotel
Responded Oct 17, 2024
Dear Mr. Klamb Thank you for your candid review. We apologize that your recent stay did not meet expectations. We appreciate your comments and apologizes for the inconveniences you faced during your stay We are currently working to make enhancements to deliver a more comfortable stay for all of our guests. We do hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future, so that we can provide a better experience. Sincerely, Maivel Amir Guest Relations Team
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It is absolutely surprising the excellent ratings for this hotel, which is in no way worthy of 5 stars. I will briefly describe some aspects in case they are useful to you. Check-in is very slow and uncomfortable, you have to wait standing for a long time to be assigned a room, knowing the arrival times of a group is easy to improve. The rooms are super old-fashioned, large and with good views but in urgent need of renovation. The buffet breakfast has little variety, without free tables you have to wait for the table to be cleaned and the presentation of the dishes really could be improved. The buffet dinner also has little variety and it takes forever to order a drink. There are a lot of staff but it is maddening to see them moving around doing nothing, placing chairs or simply walking or looking at their cell phones. The bill, for example, a beer and a water is 350 pounds to change about 7 euros paid in cash. In paid restaurants, the only decent one is the grill with nice drinks and delicious meat. Noisy Italian, average pizzas and expensive prices. The Lebanese closed and the pool with private parties on three nights. The spa also closed on the second day for renovations, although we managed to get a highly recommended massage for 3,400 pounds per person for 55 minutes (about 70 euros at the exchange rate). They have a hair salon in the gallery for ten euros and a manicure and pedicure for a total of 30 euros with friendly staff in case you happen to be like us that there are few things you can do at the hotel.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Aseguraos que la piscina va a estar disponible para clientes . El gym muy bien por si entrenáis a...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Hi there. Ask the concierge by the front desk of the Semiramis, They will arrange a doctor to come to your hotel room and take your pcr test. Results within 24 hours on official paper is slipped under your hotel door. I think I paid 1300 LE. Cheers.
Samtah, Saudi Arabia4 contributions2 helpful votes
If your visit record is excellent, you will not be asked for an amount as an early payment. Most hotels adopt this payment. It is normal and beautiful. I may leave the hotel without obligations in case of emergency.
There are more places to choose from in the Cairo area.
PRICE RANGE
$150 - $203 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
intercontinental cairo semiramis hotel cairo, semiramis hotel cairo
LOCATION
EgyptCairo GovernorateCairo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
721
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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