Old Cataract Hotel

The Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Hotel, also known as the Old Cataract Hotel, is a historic British colonial-era 5-star luxury resort hotel located on the banks of the River Nile in Aswan, Egypt.

Old Cataract Hotel
Old Cataract Hotel, showing the original 1899 hotel and the 1961 tower wing.
General information
Location Aswan, Egypt
Opening1899
ManagementAccor Sofitel
Design and construction
DeveloperThomas Cook

History

The hotel was built in 1899 by Thomas Cook[1] to house European travelers. Its guests have included Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, François Mitterrand, Princess Diana, Queen Noor and Agatha Christie, who set portions of her novel Death on the Nile at the hotel. The 1978 film of the novel was shot at the hotel.

A new modern tower wing was built in 1961, it operated as a budget wing of the hotel for many years, known as the New Cataract Hotel.

In 1973 United States Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger and his aides stayed in the New Cataract Hotel during the negotiations to end the Yom Kippur War.[2]

The hotel was closed from 2008 to 2011 for a complete restoration, during which the tower was combined with the historic Old Cataract wing into one hotel.[3] The Old Cataract wing, which had 131 rooms and eight suites, was renamed the Palace Wing, with 76 rooms and 45 suites. The New Cataract Wing, which had 144 rooms, was turned into the Nile Wing, with 62 rooms including 37 suites, all with a balcony with a river view.[4]

Egypt's CBC used the Old Cataract as the primary filming location for its musalsal adaptation of the popular Spanish series Gran Hotel in 2016.[5]

  • Outdoor view of the Old Cataract dining room.
  • Inside the Old Cataract dining room.
  • Old Cataract from the Nile.

References
  1. http://www.vjv.com/destinations/africa/egypt-tours/return-to-old-cataract/
  2. Kissinger, Henry (1982). Years of Upheaval. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-316-28591-9.
  3. "AccorHotels Group – Worldwide leader in Hospitality and services – Feel Welcome" (PDF). www.accor.com. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  4. "A new chapter for Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  5. ""Grand Hotel" series links drama to tourism marketing". Think Marketing Magazine. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
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