Le Riad Hotel de Charme

We stayed in Le Riad Hotel De Charme in Cairo recently and I was going over with super high hopes as I've looked at the reviews available online and the website and loved the design of this beautiful boutique hotel.

Farida loved the steps at the hotel purple lobby

For starter, I had wanted to stay at Le Riad because of it's unique design. The facade of the hotel was renovated to look traditional with Mashrabya lattice work covered balconies (in their tea lounge they have an album documenting the renovation work) The design of the hotel is heavily inspired by Egyptian, Moroccan, African, and Syrian traditional designs paired with strong colours. The hotel presents a different design theme in each suite -there are Delux & Superior Suites-; Beduin, Iznik, Bellydance, Pharaonic, Cinema, Coptic, Syrian, Mamluk, and many others.

The suite itself was very nice, we had the Iznik room- shown in photos above- the bathroom was big and fully done in marble, the shower was big with a rain fall shower head fixed to the ceiling which was AMAZING. The room was designed nicely to reflect the Iznik style- my brother in law had the beduin suit and it was very different but equally beautiful-, the room was kept very clean, bed was so comfortable, we also had a study area with a laptop to use which happened to be too slow though, the wifi connection also wasn't the greatest. They do not have cribs or cots and my toddler had to sleep in the middle of our bed which wasn't the greatest arrangement but it worked for the couple of nights that we were there.

The Hotel has no restaurant, they do have a breakfast area and a tea lounge- Also a roof top restaurant but my understanding is that it's now closed- and it seems like the hotel outsources the food per room per day which is a little bit of a hassle if you need to dine in/etc as that is impossible. My husband did however want foul from the kart on the street outside which wasn't part of the international breakfast already big set menu and the guy serving us was gentle enough to go buy the foul from the street and bring it to us and sure enough the next morning he had that ready before we even ask for it which was very nice.

If you are a light sleeper you might need ear plugs because the street is very busy and stays loud until late in the evening. We are heavy sleepers and by the time we were going to bed we were too tired to think of the noises, but this is Cairo after all.

The hotel is located on Al Muiz Li Din Allah Street in Old Cairo and is surrounded by many Fatimid architectural monuments which are a must visit- it's referred to as Islamic Cairo- and has many small schools, hamams, palaces, the works, some of which have had better days but some of which were renovated to reflect the stunners they were in their time. The hotel is also very close to Al Hussain & Khan Al Khalili which are full of cafes, restaurants, monuments, and shops that sell traditional Egyptian artefacts (walking distance)

Farida loved exploring historic site of her country for the first time

I asked to take professional photos for my design blog and to add to my review on trip advisor of the other rooms available but for some reason I kept being referred to managers and so many people made so many different calls over two days and I got no answer during this time which to me was weird and uncalled for and I ended up not taking professional photos of the rest of the hotel (the ones I took were by phone). 

There is no pool, no gym, and the hotel is a boutique small expensive hotel so if you are into staying at a place with restaurants, and lots of traffic within the hotel itself etc, this place isn't for you.
If you are into old architecture, old charm and glamor however and mixing with the locals and the busy street outside while staying in a quiet tranquil nice place than this is definitely the place for you

Make sure to go to the hotel's website  to check their photos of the beautiful hotel.

Ask to see the rooms available when you arrive at the hotel before you make your pick as each room is different