Cataract Aswan Hotel. Very fun and beautiful

Cataract Aswan Hotel. Very fun and beautiful
Cataract Hotel is an ancient hostel in Aswan, southern Egypt, and its name means waterfall in English, a reference to the waterfalls of the Nile, the first of which is located in the city. The hotel is located on the opposite bank of Elephantine Island.
Between the pages of history

Its most famous pioneers include Agatha Christie, Churchill, Diana and the Aga Khan



Aswan (southern Egypt): Rania Saad Eddin
A piece of living history mixed with the fragrance of mythology and the magic of Pharaonic civilization, you can clearly see it on the walls, halls and courtyards of the "Cataract" Hotel, located in the heart of the charming city of Aswan in southern Egypt. As well as its picturesque lights that are scattered at night on a series of pink granite pieces stacked spontaneously on the shore of the Nile River, which overlooks the ancient hotel, as some call it.

After 3 years of continuous renovations, the "Cataract" was reopened, to receive its visitors from the stars and famous people of the world with a new look, which qualified it to become the third legend in the world and the first in the Middle East that the Sofitel hotel group creates according to French standards.

The hotel was inspired by its name from its location, as Cataract, according to Khaled Helmy, the hotel s general manager, means the meeting of the Nile and the granite barrier, which creates a small waterfall, which in the past was considered the end point of human civilization .. Nevertheless, stories follow on the hotel to create one legend after another of its hallways. And its rooms, the story of the hotel began since its inception in 1899 AD with the extension of the railway to southern Egypt, as the number of tourists increased to visit the city of Aswan and enjoy the effects of its sunny winter atmosphere. With the increase in numbers, thinking began to build hotels on the banks of the Nile, in addition to moving Nile boats to increase the hotel capacity of the city.



In 1901, the demand for rooms increased so strongly that the hotel management had to set up tents to accommodate the guests, and new rooms were added in 1902 to double the number of rooms and spread the hotel s fame throughout the world.

Helmy mentions that the opening ceremony of the main restaurant on December 10, 1902 was attended by Khedive Abbas Helmy, ruler of Egypt, Duke Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria, Lord Lady Cromer, Sir Winston Churchill, and "Good Aird", the engineer of the Aswan Dam, who laid the foundation stone of the dam on the same day. In addition to a large group of statesmen and ministers. Since that time, the hotel has been keen to host high-minded people and world famous people over the years, the most famous of whom was "Aga Khan III", who regularly visited the hotel every year for treatment of rheumatism. His first visit to the hotel was in 1937, where he spent his honeymoon in the south wing on the second floor After his death in 1957, he asked to be buried in Aswan. It took about two years to build his tomb, and today guests can see it from the hotel balcony at the present time.

Also visitors to the historic hotel include Tsar of Russia "Nikolai II", and the English archaeologist "Howard Carter" who discovered the tomb of the golden king Tutankhamun, and King Farouk of Egypt, and the writer. The famous "Agatha Christie", who wrote her genius story "Crime on the banks of the Nile", where she was inspired by its events while sitting on the balcony of her hotel room. The film was also filmed later in "Cataract", King Mohammed V of Morocco, and the princess Diana, Queen of Hearts.

Although the hotel's exterior architecture is Victorian; The general manager of the hotel affirms that the interior design of the hotel has an oriental character, and the main restaurant still exists until now with a unique Andalusian character, with a dome rising on the ground by about 57 feet, and the columns are inspired by the tomb of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo, and the decorations are inspired by the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo Also, the main restaurant is designed to accommodate 200 guests, and the restaurant also includes an invisible place dedicated to the orchestra.

Khaled adds that the most famous place in the hotel at all is the hotel's terrace, where guests can see the sunset from four to seven in the evening. The royal suite was also the favorite place of the King of Egypt and Sudan, King Fouad, and Al-Nahhas Pasha, the Prime Minister of Egypt, was sitting on the sofa at the right side of the hotel lobby and his special food was prepared in the old hotel kitchen.