Illegal hotels in Giza, Egypt: what’s the deal?

There are a huge number of hotels to choose from if you are staying in Cairo, Egypt. But for those of us who just can’t get over the awe-inspiring sight of the pyramids, staying in the suburb of Giza might be a better option. Several hotels in Giza have balconies and rooftop patios with views of the Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, as well as the Great Sphinx.

However, you might have heard that not all of these hotels are legally licensed. When we requested a stay at one of the properties through our tour operator, Egypt Tours Plus, they told us that they would not book it on our behalf, though we were free to book it ourselves. Why is that?

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There is friction in Giza between hotel owners and the government agencies that license them. Licenses are expensive and/or onerous to get. And because of that, plus the surging demand for accommodations in Giza, many enterprising property owners are taking matters into their own hands. They are converting existing properties from apartments and houses into hotels. There is lots of new construction happening, too. Essentially this means that there are a number of illegal hotels in Giza.

The government is generally turning a blind eye to this activity. But, there has been at least one instance (dating back several years) where they raided unlicensed hotels and shut them down with no warning. Unfortunately, this left visitors out on the street.

Tour operators won’t book these unlicensed hotels for you because they are licensed by the same government agency that refuses to license the hotels. It’s a conflict of interest, and they are caught in the middle. All they can do is apprise you of the situation and advise you to book your own accommodations if that’s what you want to do.

While this sounds like a bit of a gamble to take as a traveler, we can report a successful experience with both booking and staying at a Giza-area hotel. We stayed at the Pyramids Valley Boutique Hotel, which is the closest hotel to the pyramids. It has a lovely rooftop patio with excellent views across the Giza Plateau.

We were able to watch the Pyramids Sound and Light Show from the patio (though it should be noted that the show has now closed down for refurbishment). There is a generous breakfast buffet included with your stay, and hotel staff can also help to arrange excursions.

Truthfully, we don’t know whether or not our hotel was licensed. On the surface, it appeared to operate as a normal hotel. The fact that our tour operator would not book it for us raised our suspicions, but any conclusion I could draw would be, at best, a guess.

If you’re considering staying in Giza, check reviews for the property you are interested in on a forum like TripAdvisor. We saw lots of positive, recent reviews for Pyramids Valley Boutique Hotel, which gave us the confidence to book it.

One more tip is that we had difficulty navigating the booking system on Pyramids Valley Boutique Hotel‘s website. But rooms can also be booked on Booking.com and Expedia.com. While we always recommend booking hotel rooms directly when possible, in this case, booking with Expedia.com did the trick for us.

Hopefully, that gives you some backstory on the situation with illegal hotels in Giza. We’ll keep this article up-to-date with any developments. Have you visited Giza, and do you have any insights on unlicensed hotels to share? Let us know in the comments below.

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