Why here?
Needing some sun and not having much spare cash, we booked this holiday from Lastminute.com for £598.00 for ten days for two of us. As this included flight from Manchester and acomodation, we weren't expecting much from the hotel. In fact I said to my long suffering other half that we might well end up in a shed for that price. We were very pleasantly suprised!
Where is it?
St Joseph's is a low budget three star Hotel situated about 100 yards from the banks of the river Nile.
The hotel is owned by three brothers and staffed by some of the friendliest hotel staff I have ever had the pleasure to meet. It seemed to me that it was a 3 star hotel staffed by people with a 5 star mentality!
It is situated on one of the busiest roads in Luxor and we spent many an hour sitting on our second floor balcony, marvelling at the way the traffic managed to avoid accidents whilst disregarding every rule of the road, but more of that in my Luxor review. (watch this space!)
Checking in to the St Joseph
The entrance hall is spacious and cool. Furnished with comfortable chairs and powerful and very necessary fans. The reception staff are quick to register you and bid you "Enjoy your stay with us!" Checking in was an entirely painless and pleasant procedure.
Around the walls are the inevitable notices from the various travel agencies that use the place, all promising excursions to the many fascinating sights in and around Luxor. Our luggage was whisked up to our room by a porter who made Samson look like a failed tiddleywinks player. 'Backsheesh' was delivered and the porter left us to explore our room.
Not bad for the price we paid!
The room was a fair size, equipped with two narrow single beds, plenty of storage space, a wardrobe that you had to fight to get the door open, a useful little coffee table, working lamps! and best of all a large fully functioning fridge with ice trays. The furniture was all made of dark wood which made the interior a bit gloomy. It wasn't a modern and minimalist room, it was just a comfy, more than adequate base, for our exploration of the city.
The full sized french window onto the balcony had a substantial curtain which matched the bedspreads. More importantly, it was completely lightproof and kept the glaring Luxor sunlight out! The curtain and double glazed window did very little to reduce the noise from the road which was very bad indeed. (I am sure that Egyptian Drivers are required by law to hoot their horn every ten yards!) I should have gone down and asked for a room higher up, I don't know why I didn't. It was probably relief at having got such a good room for such a reasonable price that temporarily made me overlook the din! Or it might have been that the noise of the very efficient A/C unit drowned it all out a bit. Earplugs solved the problem for us and enabled us to sleep well and wake refreshed.
The bathroom was a decent size, not huge but not cramped. It contained a toilet, large handbaisin with mirror and little shelves, a full sized bath with shower and the kind of shower curtains that actually do the job of keeping the water in the bath and not all over the floor!
There was a little high window glazed with orange glass. The effect of the light shining through the window had me constantly checking that I had turned the light off. There was also a powerful extractor fan which helped to keep the air moving but didn't seem to do a huge amount to clear smells.
We were provided with soap and towels. The four towels were not very large or luxurious but the heat dried us so quickly it was not an issue. The sheets were good quality Egyptian cotton which, although spotless, had seen better days, they had a few little holes and showed signs of fraying.
The thing that really impressed me about the rooms was the fact that they were so incredibly clean and shining! This cleanliness was apparent throughout the hotel. The staff were assiduous in their attention to keeping the place dust free and sparkling. (whilst managing to laugh and joke with you and their colleagues at the same time!)
Eat Like an Egyptian
You can eat and drink in three places in the St Joseph.
The "Cavern"
Which as the name suggests is a bar in the basement. Unfortunately the Beatles were not regular entertainers there.
I never drank down there but was tempted by two 'Happy hours' each night where the drinks were reduced by 50%! As they aren't particularly expensive in the first place this was a real bargain. I don't know if they served food down there but I suspect they would if you asked them. It tended to be very quiet when I visited but I suspect it livened up much later in the evening.
The Very Egyptian sounding 'Tudor Rose' restaurant (on the ground floor)
This had a large menu of Egyptian and other dishes. It also had an extraordinary offer whereby you could buy a book of six vouchers for £35.00. Each voucher entitled you to a four course meal. So, a four course meal for under £6.00! The little booklet explained that one person could use it six times. Two people could have three meals each or six people could have one meal each. You get the idea! It was a very good deal which we used. My lazy husband wanted us to buy two books so we never had to go looking for a restaurant but he lost that 'discussion'! There are too many interesting places to try in Luxor to stay in every night!
The food in the restaurant was good, varied and well presented. The staff were attentive and courteous. The linen clean and the tables roomy. I hate cramped tables! If you were paying full price for the meals it was average priced and would work out at roughly £12- £18 per person for a good evening meal. The restaurant also served lunches which we didn't try because we were usually too full from breakfast which was part of our package deal.
Breakfast was served from 6am until 10am. It consisted of various pastries, breads and cheeses. (The local soft cheese is delicious and tastes like Feta!)
A strange looking cereal which resembled round, slightly thick cornflakes. Lovely plain yoghourt. Various fresh fruits including banana and melon. Large hinged tureens offered eggs, sausages and bacon with a very Egyptian take on them.
The bacon was served in little rolls on a bed of onions and carrots. The bacon wasn't great, to be honest, but considering we were in a Moslem country we did well to get any! The toaster was one of those wonderful rolling contraptions and every slice had to go through twice. That was okay because you got to gossip with everyone whilst you waited!
There were plenty of conserves to go with the toast and the apricot one was particularly good!
Tea and coffee was poured for you at your table whenever you wanted topping up. The tea was okay but the coffee was not so good, somehow managing to be bitter and weak at the same time.
The only time there was a hitch in the smooth running of breakfast service was when one of the guests came in with their very new baby. Then, all bets were off whilst the staff went gaga over the little giirl! The couple whose baby it was, were at first a little dumbfounded by all the attention but soon became resigned to the fact that the waters were going to serve breakfast whilst carring Sofia from table to table, and having the odd squabble about who was going to have her next. It was very endearing to see the chef, a big, burly, piratic looking soul, pleading for his turn. Sofia seemed, very wisely, to sleep through this morning ritual.
The Rooftop Terrace.
This was my favourite place in the hotel. It offered a decent range of food from sandwiches to a more substantial spag bol'. It also served a very cooling local beer named Stella. Service was even more efficient than downstairs with the added extras of a cool breeze and the most stunning view of the Nile and Luxor, both East and West bank. The seats were comfortable and there was a good lot of adjustable awnings to protect you from the sun. The staff took good care of the many plants up there and they added to the pleasant atmosphere of the place.
Twice when we were there the staff strip cleaned the roof kitchen. Everything was stripped out of the room and was thoroughly steam cleaned, even the light fitments. I found this level of hygeine very reassuring. I don't know how they managed to do it and stay cheerful though, given the heat we were already enduring.
It was very pleasant indeed to sit and gaze over the whole of Luxor from our comfy seats. If I went out early in the morning it was possible to watch the hot air balloons rising from the Left Bank. A very picturesque way to start the day.
Hotel Amenities
I didn't see any ramps for wheelchairs to get into St Josephs but once inside all areas would be wheelchair accessible with two lifts to all the floors. There was a side entrance with no steps that led to two little shops but I never saw that door open.
Free wi-fi was available with a reasonable speed.
24 hour desk.
Lovely cooling swimming pool on the roof with plenty of comfortable sun loungers.
All rooms have balconies and are en-suite.
Air conditioning in each room. Although some genius had removed the knobs from ours and it was stuck on 'arctic blast' setting!
TV and remote in each room.
Daily room cleaning.
Good and reasonably priced menus.
Non-Smoking Rooms
Safety Deposit Box.
Luggage Storage.
Currency exchange.
The staff on reception would also book trips, call taxis, tell terrible jokes and generally act as though you were a valued member of the household.
Location
St Joseph's is about a ten minute walk from the Corniche which is the beautiful walkway which fronts the busy Nile River. It is roughly the same distance to the tourist market.
Luxor temple is about 12 minutes away and is visible from the roof terrace and Karnak Temple about 25 minutes walk.
It is much easier to take a taxi or horse drawn Caleche, both of which are available right outside. In fact, as soon as you stick your nose outside the door you are going to be besieged by offers of transport so you might as well give in gracefully and learn to negotiate a price and travel cheaply and in comfort!
If you wish to travel to the tombs then you can get to the West bank by ferry or fellucca (sail boat) then take a taxi from there. Again, it is simpler to join a guided tour or negotiate with a taxi to take you there over the bridge.
Would this Mummy return?
Overall, St Joseph's Hotel is a middled sized, friendly, 3 star hotel. It is reasonably priced and has a clientele who often return year after year. I would be happy to return there. Sometime soon I hope! It's an oasis of peace in the very busy and less than peaceful City of Luxor.
A bit of Luxury in Luxor. St. Joseph Hotel Luxor Egypt. 
