The boutique hotel reaches Cairo – The Guardian
Villa Belle Epoque, CairoA stay at the Belle Epoque is without a doubt the most romantic location in the city. The boutique hotel, which opened its doors a decade ago, is the perfect escape from the city’s bustling streets. Located in the uber-sophisticated neighbourhood of Maadi, the recently renovated colonial building boasts a swimming pool and plenty of sunbathing spots on the sundeck and various patios.
The boutique hotel is quite a new concept to the Egyptian hotel industry. Essentially, a boutique hotel is a small hotel with a limited number of rooms (think ten to fifty rooms), each of which is uniquely and creatively designed. The hotel itself offers high-quality, personalised services from breakfast in bed to individualised and luxurious tours. Think of a boutique hotel as the opposite of mass-produced package tours; it promises a unique and intimate hotel experience, but usually at a hefty price tag.
Although it calls itself Egypt’s first boutique hotel, the Villa Belle Epoque traces its architectural roots to 1920s when it was built as a private residence in a posh new suburb called Maadi.
Located about half an hour from Tahrir Square by car or 40 minutes by metro, the villa sports an outdoor swimming pool and sundecks in a fruit-tree-filled garden. The coffee houses, cafes and boutiques of Maadi’s chic Road 9 are only a short walk away.
You can also dine in at the villa’s Acacia Restaurant with its fusion foods and modern takes on Middle Eastern classics.
Since its quiet opening in 2009, Maadi’s elegant boutique hotel Villa Belle Époque has been reviewed by some of the world’s top newspapers. Despite minimal local publicity, the simple, white villa has garnered a reputation through word of mouth in Cairo for its excellent cuisine and luxurious decor.
Nestled in the heart of Maadi, Villa Belle Époque is a boutique hotel enabling guests and visitors to relive a bygone elegant era while enjoying a modern lifestyle. Whether you are seeking a nice culinary experience, a relaxing escape while in Cairo, or have a special event, this destination will fulfill your wishes. Villa Belle Époque boasts picturesque scenery on the outside where the patios are surrounded by mango, lemon, and guava trees, in addition to a swimming pool for visitors to bask in the sun. The hotel’s interior evokes luxury with its rich yet understated furnishing as well as ornamentation and artworks to feast the eyes on.
Occupying conjoined 1920s villas in Maadi, a leafy suburb created to house British civil servants and Egyptians working in the court of the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, this whitewashed structure with dark colonial green window casings and balcony trim. Egyptian owner Tarek El Gendy and his Dutch wife, Beryl, have filled the 32 guest suites with a tasteful mix of contemporary Egyptian art and European and Oriental antiques.
With the Great Pyramid of Giza — the only surviving wonder of the ancient world — on its doorstep, Cairo is often the first port of call for travellers visiting Egypt. This is for good reason: a sense of history and rich culture is standard here, from the labyrinthine lanes of medieval Khan el-Khalili bazaar to the city’s ancient architecture and the Egyptian Museum, which heaves with more than 100,000 antiquities, some of which date to 5500BC.
Nestled in the quiet streets of Cairo’s Maadi district there exists the Villa Belle Époque, a lavish escape which juxtaposes against the surrounding chaos inherent to Egypt. Tucked away in fashionable quarters, the hotel has gained notoriety both globally and locally as Egypt’s first boutique hotel. Built in the 1920s and since refurbished, the 1300m2 grounds boast luxury and charm with every detail and at every corner.
Villa Belle Époque is 12 kilometers away from Cairo’s center in Maadi, helping travelers connect more deeply with a residential neighborhood full of rich greenery and historic architecture.
