Sara Inn may be a hostel but it certainly is a great place to stay. It is located very near the Sadat metro station close to the heart of downtown Cairo, near Tahrir Square.
Let me begin with the air port pick up service that is offered. As opposed to many other hostels, this service is genuine by Sara Inn. Someone will pick you up and deliver you to Sara Inn for the stated price. Of course it is entirely up to you to give any bakseesh on top of that. You only have to pay once you have checked in at the hostel. The price is usually 50EGP. The driver only gets half of that so I suggest tipping the driver.
The hostel itself is on the 7th floor. There is a lift so use it. If you dont take a taxi though, it may a bit difficult to find but I managed to find it. I asked around and there were people who were helpful enough to walk with me until the exact street. The best is to ask for Hoda Shorawy street or Yusof Al gendi street. Someone is bound to know one of these streets.
The rooms in the hostel are very basic. There are shared rooms and private rooms. The shower and toliet are separate. They are relatively clean. For some odd reason you cant throw toilet paper into the toilet bowl but instead into the bin so just be aware. It gets pretty cold in the room and the heaters dont really work. I was there in December so it was winter. Early mornings are the worst. Very cold indeed.
I suggest not to try the internet. at the hostel It is extremely slow and the pc is in Egyptian. So if you try getting on the MSN, u will have some problems with typing in English. Although minor but it just irritates you in the end.
They serve coffee and tea and breakfast of bread and cheese in the hostel. Its about 4 Egyptian pounds. You will get a better deal from the take away called Felfella which is just around the corner from Sara Inn. The guys at the hostel will point out where it is. They have a map with Felfella on it. Felfella is popular and there is the take away which is excellent and also there is the restaurant , which is dismal. Avoid the restaurant, lost of hype but in the end expensive and the food was nothing to shout about. The take away is really good value for money. Everything I tried was great there.You can have a lovely satisfying meal for about 8 EGP. Try the tamiya ...it was the best I had in Egypt. Well the best was near the Coptic Museum made by this young Egyptian guy who had a coffee shop.
It is very easy to get to all the touristic sites within Cairo from Sara Inn. For Coptic Cairo use the Metro to Mar Girgis. Talk a walk to the Nile at night. Its enchanting. To the pyramids at Giza hail a cab from outside the hostel. The Egyptian museum is walkable distance if you care for it othwerwise hail a cab. Islamic Cairo and the Khan-EKhalili market is also within waling distance but a taxi should only cost 5EGP. Walking in that area on Saturday night will be quite an experience if you wander away from the touristy market to the local market. It was quite an experience. There were multitudes of people selling everything from fresh figs to spices.
Sara Inn is also close to a 2 money changers. Once again the guys at Sara Inn will be able to help you.
Cairo is not what some people make it out to be , a tout central. After a few hours in the city , you can easily spot the touts so the best way to deal with them is to say "Laa Shukran" with a smile and put your hand to you heart. The will soon leave you alone. Dont let touts spoil your holiday...........Enjoy the city.