Review of The Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, by Nick Maes

The 30-storey luxury hotel Four Seasons Nile Plaza towers amid Cairo's arcing chaos, heat and extraordinary population. The megatropolis looks like it's hopped straight out of a minaretted Blade Runner, except it doesn't do rain, it does dust. But walking into the Four Seasons' unhurried, immaculate reception area feels like an upgrade in itself as you leave the incredible hustle of outside behind. It's hard to imagine the clamour after slick receptionists with aerodynamic hairdos have magicked you and your luggage away to your room. It's just as an expensive, luxury hotel should be - brassy and excessive, yet simultaneously discreet and reserved.

The facilities

Adjacent to the outside pool and sunbathing areas on floor five is the quiet solitude of the luxury hotel's ubiquitous spa and wellness centre. It offers a positively global menu of massages and treatments ranging from Swedish through Balinese, Thai and pharaonic.

Likewise the luxury hotel's various 6 restaurants bridge international cuisine with the added benefit of beautiful Nile views. The Italian restaurant, Bella, is surprisingly authentic whilst Spice offers traditional Cantonese cuisine, Aqua has an exotic menu of Pacific Rim fusion fare and Zitouni specialises in Lebanese dishes. Cairo's splashy night-time fluorescence is best seen, drink in hand, from the bar nibbling on delicious hot roasted nuts and olives.

Those needing sports activities are also well catered to. The 24-hour gym has some of the best facilities in Cairo and, a short drive away is an 18-hole golf course, tennis club and horseback riding.

And for those of you still with time on your hands the nearby pyramids of Giza are rumoured to be worth a visit.

The rooms

The luxury hotel has 365 large guest rooms including 77 suites. The enormous beds in the Premier Rooms are easily big enough to sleep four and sprawl in front of TVs that would put some cinema screens to shame. The living areas also boast a colossal telly and, more interestingly, views across the river Nile to die for.

Likewise the beige marble bathrooms are nothing less than huge with cod 19th century European washstands, hammock-size towels and enough L'Occitane products to kick-start a concession at Selfridges. And frankly, that's the whole extravagant point; why do something by half when you can do it to the power of ten?