If you're looking for a nice and reasonably priced hotel that is close to the Nile and downtown, I would recommend the Shepheard Hotel. Our travel agent (who happened to be an Egyptian) booked this hotel for us. The hotel is located in downtown Cairo, right across the Intercontinental Hotel and right next to the Nile river. The U.S. embassy is also right by the hotel and shops, restaurants are within walking distance. Though the hotel is a little old, it is very comfortable. The staff at the hotel is very helpful and friendly, the rooms and bathrooms are spacious. You have to pay an extra $20/night if you want a Nile view room. They have a great breakfast in the mornings. We didn't like their casino too much and preferred to gamble at the much nicer Intercon Casino across the street. Overall, I didn't find any problems with the hotel and would recommend it.

It was an ok hotel, stayed here for 2 nights, conveniently located for Nile dinner cruise on the Scarab boat which was very good, if you prefer a more intimate experience go on the later cruises as there were only 15 people on the whole boat compared to the whole boat being full of Japanese tourists on the earlier trip! The room was ok but i think we got a rubbish room because we paid slightly less. Good location for museum and so on. Worth a shout if your on a budget, but there are better hotels in Cairo

This is an ?poque hotel from another era long gone. The lobby, dining rooms and restaurants all have style and features that simply can no longer be produced. The ceilings alone are a work of art that loom 40-50ft overhead. Its rooms are generous, comfortable, and clean. Bathrooms are large (separate rooms for toilet/bidet from bath/shower). Views are unsurpassed. Cairo is a noisy city that makes NY sound like a ghost town, and this hotel is at a busy intersection. I recommend neoprene earplugs if your on the Nile side. As an earlier traveler wrote, if you can get a deal like I did (59euros/night), it's a bargain that's impossible to beat in Cairo.