We seldomly splurge on luxurious accommodations, but are happy to make an exception when it’s warranted by the occasion. For our 20th wedding anniversary, we stayed at the exclusive Pangkor Laut resort in Malaysia. And now, for my 50th birthday, Mike booked us a stay in Luxor, Egypt, with a couple of nights at the timeless Winter Palace, on the banks of the Nile.

Of course, we had seen pictures of the Winter Palace, but arriving at the front steps still took our breaths away. The building is extremely impressive, but its location is perhaps even better. The hotel is almost literally adjacent to the Luxor Temple, and its view of the Nile, stretched out as far as you can see in either direction, is amazing. We were here in January, which is a great time to visit Egypt. In fact, the Winter Palace’s name is no mistake: back in the day, it was only open during the winter months. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3MXXHzS7rM Once you enter the main lobby, you’ll probably be unable to prevent another “Wow” from slipping through your lips. Imbued in these walls is an inescapable sense of luxury, history, and importance. You don’t just scurry down the hallway to get to your room … no, you tour the hallway, studying the old photographs on the walls, and admiring the statues and pieces of Egyptian art on display every few meters. And before you even do that, you’ll probably have also visited the lush gardens, with palm trees, the hotel’s pool, and several restaurants. Look: you’ve already had a big day at the Winter Palace, and you’ve just arrived! At least, that’s the way we did it. But then, we had a couple hours to kill before we could check in. Soon enough, the attentive staff fetched us from the garden, and brought us to our room. We didn’t have a Nile-facing view, as the prices for these rooms are exorbitant, but facing toward the back didn’t feel like a compromise. We had a little patio, and the view looking out on the vast gardens was just gorgeous.

The Winter Palace first opened in 1886, aiming to attract western travelers to Luxor. And in this effort, it succeeded. One of the hotel’s most famous guests was Agatha Christie, who was possibly visiting while writing one of her most famous novels: Death on the Nile. The hotel also attracted royalty and aristocrats such as George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who financed the excavation of Tutankhamun’s Tomb. The discovery of the tomb was announced on the grounds of the Winter Palace in 1922, by legendary archaeologist Howard Carter. Despite its cinematic atmosphere, the hotel has only rarely been used on screen — most notably in Agatha Christie’s Poirot and the 2020 film Luxor, where scenes were filmed inside the hotel itself.

We absolutely loved our stay at the Winter Palace. The flair, the location, the gardens, the pool, and the staff were all amazing. But we did notice the tooth of time nibbling away on its opulence. Decay sets in everywhere, eventually. That’s why when we heard about a recent change in ownership, we became hopeful. After undergoing massive renovations, the Winter Palace is set to reopen by July 2027 as a Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We’d love to come back once the construction dust has settled, to see if they managed to give this historic building a much-needed modernization without destroying the old-time charm. From our Travel Blog.

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