Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano

On the site of the San Stefano

The Four Seasons stands on the plot once occupied by the San Stefano, a hotel and casino that Alexandrians still remember. It opened in July 2007 as part of a larger complex, San Stefano Grand Plaza, which also includes a shopping mall next to the lobby. The architecture is by the firm WZMH (Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden Partnership), and the interiors by French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, in a classic European style with a Mediterranean touch: pale blues on yellow, marble, paintings and sculptures on the theme of seaside holidays. Antique furniture was bought at El-Attarine market, Alexandria's antiques quarter.

It is both a city hotel and a beach hotel. Every room has at least one balcony, facing the sea or the city, and the Corniche runs at the foot of the building.

Crossing under the Corniche

The beach is on the other side of the Corniche, Alexandria's busy seafront avenue. You reach it through an underground tunnel, the one built for the old San Stefano and the only one in the city running under the Corniche to the sea. At the end: 500 m of sand in a small bay, sun loungers, beach suites and a seawater infinity pool set right on the beach, with a bar and four cabanas.

This part of the hotel follows the summer. The beach, its pool and the beach restaurant close from November to April. The circular infinity pool on the fourth floor, overlooking the Corniche, opens from May to October, from 8 am to sunset (local time). The rest of the year, you swim in the heated indoor pool on the fifth floor, also circular, with a whirlpool.

Sabaro therefore advises choosing the season to suit the trip. From June to September, when the sea is above 24 °C, the hotel works as a resort in the middle of the city. In winter and spring, it becomes a comfortable base for exploring Alexandria, with a spa and an indoor pool.

Nine places to eat, from Lebanese to seafood

The hotel has nine restaurants and lounges, enough for several days without eating twice in the same place:

• Byblos, the Lebanese restaurant, serves hot and cold mezze and Lebanese and Syrian dishes under gilded ceilings and carved woodwork, facing the sea. Its chef, Essam Arabou, has been in the kitchen since 2017.
• Kala, the international restaurant, serves the breakfast buffet and Friday brunch.
• Stefano's is the Italian, with Southern Italian cooking and an open kitchen; its signature is a seafood risotto.
• Fresca, a Mediterranean bistro, adds a pizzaiolo counter.
• The beach restaurant, open in summer, serves seafood, with 230 seats on the sand.
• For drinks: Bleu Lounge, outdoors with cocktails and shisha at sunset, Le Bar for evening martinis, the Lobby Lounge, and Arabesque, a shisha lounge overlooking the infinity pool.

Which room for which trip

The hotel has 87 rooms, 31 suites, 30 beach suites and 22 villas, including a residence called The Palace. The choice comes down first to view and space.

• For one or two nights in the city, a sea-view room is enough; city-view rooms look over Alexandria's rooftops.
• If you cannot choose between views, the corner suites have one balcony on the sea and another on the city.
• For a summer stay as a couple, the One-Bedroom Premium Beach Suite, on the beach, has a living room and a garden terrace with sun loungers and a hammock.
• For a family or friends, the sea-view villas with private pools range from one bedroom (94 m² plus 114 m² outdoors) to three bedrooms (229 m² plus 238 m² outdoors).
• The Palace, at the tip of the hotel's peninsula with the sea on three sides, has its own pool, garden and private entrance.

Children aged 12 and under stay free in their parents' room, space permitting.

Sabaro's view

For whom: couples and families visiting Alexandria who want the sea and a private beach in the city; travellers stopping for a night or two between Cairo and the north coast.

Strengths: the 500 m beach reached by the tunnel; nine restaurants and lounges; private-pool villas, rare in a city centre; a 4.6/5 rating on Tripadvisor from more than 1,100 reviews.

Good to know: the beach and the rooftop pool are closed for a good part of the year; the Corniche below the hotel is noisy, and restaurant prices are high according to guest reviews; Borg El Arab airport is 60 km away, about an hour by road.