New Winter & Pavillon Palace, Luxor > Reviews > First Class but slightly expensive

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Good
Standard of Service	Good
Cleanliness	Excellent
Quality of Facilities	Good

Advantages:	Good Location, excellent pool, friendly staff
Disadvantages:	Food and drink expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My husband and I stayed in the New Winter Palace from 30th August-13th September 2006. When we first arrived we were taken to a room on the 5th floor. It was nice and clean but basic. I was a little disappointed as we were expecting a double bed but got 2 singles pushed together. We had a nice balcony looking over the hotel's tropical gardens.
After a few days we got talking to one of the managers and we happened to mention in conversation that it was our honeymoon, the next day we were moved up to the 8th floor. Our new room was lovely and had a double bed. Our new balcony was overlooking the Nile and the view was spectacular.
The pool area was really nice. The shallow pool had a bar in the middle which was a god send as it was so hot, you could sit in the water at the bar drinking. There was also a big deep pool which was very good for swimming in. The pool area was always very clean and the staff were very friendly.
We only ate in the hotel restaurant the first night. If you compare the prices to the UK I suppose it was ok but if you ventured outisde the hotel you realise that it's actually very expensive for example the carvery was 132 egyptian pounds (around £13.20) but if you walked into the centre of Luxor there was a restaurant doing a carvey for 37.5 Egyptian pounds (around £3.75). The drinks in the hotel were also quite expensive compared to local restaurants. If you stay in the New Winter Palace you can also dine in the restaurants in the Old Winter Palace as the two hotels are joined but you need to make a reservation and there is a strict dress code. We were told by other guests that it was also more expensive than the New Winter Palace
Most of the staff in the hotel were very friendly although one or 2 of the waiters in the restaurant were a bit rude. The cleaners were very nice and seemed to clean the rooms at least twice a day.
There was live entertainment every night but in saying that it was the same couple singing. They were very good and sang in many different languages, they were more than happy to sing requests. The music stopped and the bar closed at midnight but if you are in need of a drink room service operates 24hrs a day!
All in all we really enjoyed our stay and would definately go back. I would definately recommend it but I would also recommend that you venture outside and don't eat in the hotel restaurant everynight (you'll save a fortune!)