Details about Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor
Luxor is one of the ancient archaeological cities and took its fame from its timeless monuments over time and frequented by kings, presidents and celebrities in the world, and it gained its fame for being the capital of civilisation and history, which owns one third of the world's antiquities and for its tourist and archaeological status, and its monuments being the capital of ancient Egypt, Thebes, the country of glories and the city of the sun.
The hotel is one of the most famous hotels in Luxor and has been witness to many historical narratives, which today have become a legacy that we preserve to showcase the fragrance of the past, explaining: ‘The Winter Palace Hotel began construction in 1886 and was first opened in 1903. The idea was conceived by the English orientalist Thomas Cook, who was fond of Egyptian civilisation at the time, and the hotel is located on the east bank of the Nile only 100 metres from Luxor Temple.
The story of the establishment of the hotel was not originally intended to provide comfortable accommodation for tourists, but rather to provide a special place for the royal family in Egypt and the nobility, and this may explain the name, which in Arabic means Winter Palace, as the hotel was originally a palace used by the Khedive of Egypt and the ruling family to enjoy the warm Luxor sun in the winter seasons.
The Winter Palace Hotel has 35 rare trees from Malaysia, India and East Asian countries that are more than 100 years old, and others that are close to half a century old, including a henna date back to 1978, another type dating back to 1938, and Indian jasmine dating back to 1993 in its garden behind the building.
The hotel has a special wing for King Farouk, which has a special wing inside the palace called until today ‘Royal Suite’ and is also known as ‘King Farouk's Suite’, and it is not allowed to enter his library, which includes rare international books, except in a full suit and tie, and the royal suite that was established for Farouk, is only opened in very exceptional situations, and to represent some films, as the hotel witnessed the filming of the film Gram in Karnak and the famous song Luxor is our country by the artist Al-Azabi and Reda band.