Windsor Hotel

Description:

• This downtown fixture has changed little since it opened in the 1930s. Travel posters from the 1950s adorn the walls, and while the claim that the Schindler elevator is one of the oldest operating in the world is hard to verify, it's certainly the oldest in Egypt to still be carrying passengers. The building was originally a khedival bathhouse and served as a British Officers Club during World War II. The heart of the hotel is undoubtedly still the lounge bar on the second floor, with its chairs cut from old barrels and a chandelier of antlers. The vintage reception desk in the lobby, with its original switchboard, however, comes a close second.

  Rooms vary considerably, from high ceilinged and spacious to small and quite dank. At the best of times, the whole place is somewhat musty, but if history is your thing, it's going to seem a small price to pay for the sense of time that the hotel conveys. Less forgiving are recent reports that visitors have felt pressured to accept guide services touted by the front desk.

• © Frommer's 2012

Other features:

The hotel is like a living colonial museum, with antique furniture, a vintage elevator (manually operated by a lever) and one of the city's atmospheric bars. Airport pickup, drop-off.