This hotel feels like being transported into an Egyptian palace

The hotel

Al Moudira Hotel, Luxor West Bank, Egypt

Grand designs… Moudira Hotel.

Check-in

Al Moudira is the female version of the Arabic ya moudira, “the manager”, but here it means “the lady boss”, a reference to Italian-Lebanese designer Zeina Aboukheir who stopped by on a felucca more than two decades ago, was taken by the timeless tranquillity of the area just upstream from the Valley of the Kings and decided to build a luxury resort hotel.

No ordinary reception.

A renowned Egyptian architect and local village craftsmen were harnessed to bring her vision to fruition, a fusion of the architecture and design elements of a traditional Egyptian noble house with the amenities of a glamorous luxury hotel. Aboukheir describes it as a “mix of Lebanese, Syrian and Turkish influences, with Italian colours”. This is the only Egyptian hotel to wear the gold crown of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux association.

The look

Fountain Suite.

It’s a transportive experience. From the dusty rural world outside, you enter a stylised rendering of an Egyptian palace, complete with scalloped arches, domed ceilings, splashing fountains and sandy hued walls. Aboukheir set the tone for her desert resort, travelling the Middle East and rescuing handcrafted wooden doors, marble tiles, terracotta, painted glass and unwanted fountains from Ottoman-era villas in Alexandria and Cairo with demolition notices on the front door. The 54 rooms are clustered around courtyards with fountains and sunken tiled pools accented with sprays of bougainvillea. The swimming pool, ringed by date palms, is large enough for laps, while the spa blends the bathing rituals of the hammam with modern wellness practices. Daily yoga sessions with an Indian master are included.

The room

You can’t be anywhere else than Egypt... luxury suite.

The base-level deluxe suites are a whopping 50-55 square metres, with an enormous king-sized bed or supersize twins, antiques and a coffee machine. Walls are hand-painted by the hotel’s resident artist. Mine features a felucca on the Nile with palm trees in the foreground. Bed linen, including the pretty embroidered pillowcases, is by Malaika Cairo, a name to conjure with in Egypt’s style manual. In the bathrooms, coloured glass insets paint the walls with gold and cherry-blossom pink. Move up a notch to the signature suites, and you get more of everything – space, a four-poster wrought-iron bed, private terrace and a cavernous bathroom. Scattered about the property, the five-bedroom villas come with a private pool within a cloistered garden, a butler and a chef on call.

Food + drink

The elegant Ottoman Hall serves a dinner menu that fuses Italian and Middle Eastern flavours with falafel, freekeh and couscous alongside pasta dishes, duck confit with an orange and thyme sauce, and lemon risotto with parmigiano reggiano. The same dinner menu is available in the sunken courtyard, where marble-topped tables and wrought iron chairs are set against a backdrop of pink walls and palm trees. By day, the courtyard serves breakfast, lunch and cafe-style snacks. Khan Al Moudira is the hotel’s casual, Middle Eastern restaurant, with a nod to the coffee houses of Ottoman Cairo. Much of the produce, including eggs, butter, milk, yoghurt, poultry, vegetables and wheat products, comes from Al Moudira’s own farm, adjoining the hotel.

Out + about

Hot-air balloon rides over the Nile River and Valley of Kings.Getty Images

While most of Luxor’s hotels are on the busy East Bank of the Nile, Al Moudira sits alone on the West Bank, in a rural idyll surrounded by sugarcane fields. Some of Egypt’s most iconic treasures, including the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the temples at Karnak and Luxor are a 15-minute drive away. Hot-air balloon rides, visits to local artisans and sunset felucca cruises are some of the optional activities. Bicycles are provided.

The verdict

It’s calm, relaxing and invigorating. Service is skilled and professional, and Al Moudira never lets you forget you’re in a special part of the world.

The essentials

From $US226.60 ($350) with breakfast. The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Luxor Airport. See moudira.com

Our score out of five

★★★★½

Highlight

The bed linen, Egyptian cotton, must have a magic ingredient.

Lowlight

The breakfast cappuccinos are rather feeble.

The writer travelled at his own expense.

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