Reviews of Guesthouse Bet el Kerem

22 March 2011 Carla would recommend this property

Liked: Abdel and his Nubian staff were super hospitable and a breath of fresh air in Egypt where it felt as if everyone only wanted to interact with us if the end result was us giving them money. The guest house was very clean, in a quiet location on the West Bank and had stunning views of the Nile and desert. The food was excellent and they offer free bottled water / drinks which was great! It may seem more expensive to stay here but with the free drinks, relaxing setting and break from baksheesh demands, it's worth it!

Disliked: The directions to get to the guest house could be slightly clearer. When you cross over on the ferry (1 LE), turn right on the first road - not the first foot path. Once you turn right onto the first road, look slightly to your left and in the distance you'll see a two story building with a Bet El Kerem sign.

11 January 2011

Liked: situation on west bank and view from the terrace

Disliked: The rooms themselves are THINNLY partitioned and badly constructed: you can LITERALLY hear the conversations word for word of the guests next door. We shared a window with the room next door (i.e. the partition cut the window in half on both walls)and there was a gap between the wall and the partition so that air conditioning and light shone through). the 'lounge' area was really more like a square hallway with a few bench type seats and sporadic cushions around which the rooms were situated so that it acted like another noise tunnel. Inadequate number of bathrooms per floor and not close to the bedrooms at all: we had to go out of the bedroom into the 'lounge' area and out onto either the balcony or the stairwell which led to the toilet and shower (which naturally, considering the badly designed renovation/conversion into a hotel, shared a partitioned wall so you could literally have a conversation with whoever was in the next one form the comfort of the toilet bowl! The buffet food was OK as long as you were there at the MOMENT it came out (1pm and 7pm) but expensive. we were charged 11Euros each! Breakfast in buffet concept was good but birds nesting in the roof pecked at the bread and sugar in the bowls INFRONT OF THE PERSONEL & MANAGER. More scope for stomach upsets. The manager was oh sooo friendly (called us his 'friend') which we didn't really think much about because translations can often lead to we might consider odd approximations and behaviour, but in the native country are considered appropriate. He always professed to be very helpful but only so far as we wanted to book HIS tours at the Euro rate which he charged. OK again we thought that's in common with many other places. BUT when we asked about the buses to Abu Simbel he said he would find out and then didn't. Again we thought, OK, in common with other hostel/hotels they don't want to say that they can't help. He wrote down something on a piece of paper that we took to be directions for a taxi to come to the hotel and take us to the bus, but since we can't read arabic we didn't know really what it said. We went on our own fact finding mission to the bus station: 2 daily buses at 8am and 5pm. Sometime later when settling the bill we mentioned our plans to him and he seemed to know all about the bus times. Hmmm Prices for the rooms varied depending who you booked through and how much you haggled. 35 Euros per double room is VERY OVERPRICED when people who walk in can get a price of 20 Euros. Hotels really should realise that the guests do speak to each other.

10 December 2010 jennifer would recommend this property

Liked: the nubian owner and staff are the warmest and most hospitable people we have ever encountered in our travels around the world. We instantly felt at home and ended up staying twice as long as originally intended. Location across the Nile was beautiful, a fascinating short ferry ride across with the locals. The Nubian villlage was a fascinating insight into another way of life away from the touts and hurly burly of Aswan proper. The home cooked meals were excellent.

Disliked: nil