Marriott Mena House

From hunting lodge to grand hotel

In 1869, Khedive Ismail (viceroy of Egypt under Ottoman rule) had a two-storey hunting lodge built at the foot of the Giza plateau, the year the Suez Canal opened. He sold it in 1883. Two years later, a British couple, the Locke Kings, bought the house and turned it into a hotel. Mena House opened to the public in 1886, named after Menes, the first pharaoh.

In 1890, it opened the country's first swimming pool and announced it would stay open all year; thirty rooms were added in 1920. During both world wars, Australian troops occupied it, and during the first it served as a hospital for their wounded.

In 1972, the Indian group Oberoi took over its management; a 200-room wing was built in the gardens in 1978. Marriott International (the American hotel group) has run the hotel since 2015 and gave it its current name in 2018. Since December 2023, the majority of the owning company has belonged to a subsidiary of the Egyptian Talaat Moustafa Group.

The house of conferences

Mena House has hosted two meetings that mattered in twentieth-century history.

From 23 to 26 November 1943, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek met here for the Cairo Conference, code-named "Sextant", devoted to the war against Japan and to the plans of the British and American chiefs of staff. The hotel and dozens of neighbouring villas were turned into a secure perimeter; military meetings were held at Mena House, and the conference ended with the Cairo Declaration.

In December 1977, Egyptian and Israeli representatives met here; these talks paved the way for the Camp David Accords, signed the following year.

What you book today

The hotel has two parts. The historic wing, the palace, is closed for a long renovation: it is due to reopen under the JW Marriott luxury brand, with no date announced. Marriott Mena House occupies the garden wing, with 331 rooms and suites at the time of the 2018 rebranding.

The choice of room comes down to the view. The "Pyramid View" rooms and suites look onto the plateau; the Deluxe rooms with balconies overlook the gardens. On the dates we checked, no pyramid-view room was on sale: for a fixed-date stay, book this category early. If the room lacks the view, the 139 Pavilion terrace makes up for it.

A day at the foot of the plateau

The Great Pyramid is 760 m away. The hotel offers its guests direct access to the plateau, to be requested from the concierge 24 hours ahead; the site ticket must still be bought. Sabaro suggests going up at opening time, before the groups and the heat, then moving on to the Grand Egyptian Museum, 2.1 km away.

The main restaurant, 139 Pavilion, is open day and night, indoors or on a terrace facing the pyramids: breakfast, à la carte lunch, dinner with live music. On Saturdays, from 1 to 4 pm, a brunch facing the pyramids brings together cooking stations, music and children's activities. In the evening, the hotel also offers Indian food at the Moghul Room and Italian food at Alfredo, both from 4 to 11 pm. Times are local.

For the afternoon, the outdoor pool is heated, with a whirlpool and a bar open from 9 am to 7.30 pm. The Saray Spa and the gym complete the offer. The pyramids' sound and light show and the Step Pyramid at Saqqara are among the outings the hotel recommends.

Sabaro's view

For whom: couples and families who come first for the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum; travellers who care about the history of a place.

Strengths: the pyramids almost on foot; 16 hectares of gardens; 139 Pavilion facing the plateau; a score of 8.8/10 on Booking.com based on more than 1,600 reviews.

Good to know: the historic wing remains closed during its renovation; Cairo International Airport is 30.6 km away and downtown is far, which makes visits to historic Cairo longer from Giza; breakfast is not included in every rate.

Our advice: two nights here for the pyramids, Saqqara and the Grand Museum, then two nights by the Nile for the rest of the city.