Review: Le Meridien Cairo Airport, Egypt

For the first hotel stay of my Allegris round the world journey, I had a quick overnight at the 349-room Le Meridien Cairo Airport. I travel through Cairo fairly often thanks to the great premium fares available out of Egypt, and over the years I’ve stayed at the Le Meridien several times.

I really like the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, perhaps more than I should. It has an unbeatable location (connected directly to Terminal 3), and the hotel has a large selection of food and beverage outlets. As an early riser who loves coffee, I also appreciate the breakfast and coffee situation at the hotel. The Le Meridien also has a pool, solid gym, and club lounge.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some amazing luxury property. The hotel opened in 2013, and hasn’t undergone a significant renovation since then, so the property is getting to the point where it could use a refresh. Furthermore, as I find to be common in much of Egypt, there’s at least a slight smell of cigarettes just about everywhere.

Booking the Le Meridien Cairo Airport

I paid cash for my stay at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport, and the rate was around $150 all-in. That seems reasonable enough by international standards, given how much hotel rate inflation we’ve seen in recent years.

Of course I could have redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points for the stay, though the requirement was 23,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for the night I was staying. I value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so I decided to pay cash and save my points for a stay where I can get outsized value.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport location

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has an unbeatable location if you’re arriving at or departing from the airport. The hotel is connected directly to Terminal 3, which is the terminal primarily occupied by EgyptAir. There’s an interior bridge that takes you from the arrivals area of the terminal directly to the hotel (where there’s then a security check you have to go through).

If you’re arriving at or departing from another terminal, there’s a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes from the hotel. Meanwhile if you’re arriving at the airport at another terminal and need to get to the Le Meridien, the hotel will also pick you up, but you should schedule that in advance.

I was arriving at Terminal 3 on EgyptAir, and departing from Terminal 2 on Kuwait Airways, so I could take the bridge to the hotel upon my arrival in the evening, and then take a shuttle transfer in the morning.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport lobby & check-in

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a large lobby area with lots of seating, which connects the various parts of the hotel, including the food and beverage outlets, gym, and more.

There are multiple individual desks where check-in is offered. I was helped immediately, and the check-in process took just a few minutes. The associate reminded me of the hotel’s amenities, and informed me that I had been upgraded to a club room, on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status.

With keys in hand, I headed to the elevators, just a short walk away, and went to the fifth floor.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport guest room

I was assigned room 558, a club king room. Upon exiting the elevator I turned left, and then my room was about halfway down the hall and on the right.

Standard rooms at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport are marketed as being 355 square feet (33 square meters), so they’re about average in terms of size. My room featured an entryway with closets on the left, and then the bathroom on the right, with the rest of the room straight ahead.

In the main part of the room was a king size bed, which was super comfortable, and had the typical Le Meridien sheets.

Across from the bed was a wall-mounted TV, as well as a desk area with two chairs.

Waiting on the desk was a welcome amenity, with some fruit and sweets.

Then next to the bed there was a chair with an ottoman.

Back near the entrance was a kettle, with a complimentary selection of Dilmah tea and Nescafe instant coffee.

The bathroom featured a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the shower setup for a couple of reasons. For one, I don’t like these showers that have half a shield, since water sprays all over the bathroom. Furthermore, I found the water temperature hard to control, as the dial was really sensitive.

Toiletries were from MALIN+GOETZ, and were in wall-mounted containers.

I liked the impressive variety of other toiletries, from a dental kit to mouthwash, which other hotels often require you to call down to the front desk to request.

My room looked out at the terminal, so it wasn’t the most exciting view on earth.

Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free. All-in-all, I was very happy with the room. The room is definitely showing a bit more wear and tear than my last stay several years back, but that’s to be expected.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport gym

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a 24/7 gym, located just off the lobby. The gym isn’t huge, but has a lot of equipment in it that’s fairly modern. The gym also doesn’t have any windows — that didn’t bother me, since I worked out in the middle of the night, so it’s not like there was anything to see anyway.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport pool

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has an outdoor pool, open from sunrise to sunset. I’m not a pool person, but I’m sure some people will appreciate the ability to go for a swim, especially given Cairo’s warm temperatures for much of the year.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport club lounge

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport has a club lounge on the fifth floor, which I had access to, on account of my status. The lounge is open 24/7, which is awesome, since you can grab a soft drink or a cup of coffee any hour of the day or night.

The lounge isn’t very big, so I imagine it gets busy during peak service hours, given how many people have access to Marriott club lounges.

As far as service in the lounge goes, there’s breakfast available from 7AM until 10AM, light snacks from 12PM until 5PM, and the evening happy hour from 6PM until 8PM. I arrived too late to check out the evening happy hour. Furthermore, for breakfast, club guests have the opportunity to instead have breakfast in the restaurant, so that’s what I did.

When I visited the lounge in the middle of the night, it had a selection of coffee, tea, soft drinks, and light snacks.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport 24/7 cafe

As someone who loves coffee and keeps a strange schedule (especially on these kinds of trips), one of my favorite things about the Le Meridien Cairo Airport is Latitude Coffee Bar. This is the hotel’s lobby bar, and it’s open 24/7.

In addition to a full bar setup, Latitude Coffee Bar also offers barista coffee and pastries. How great to be able to grab a barista coffee any hour of the day or the night. The fact that I had a voucher for a free espresso or cappuccino in the room was the icing on the cake, as I could enjoy a drink without even paying for it.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport breakfast

The Le Meridien Cairo Airport serves breakfast at EVOO, which is the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant, one level below the lobby. As a club guest, I could have breakfast here, and that’s exactly what I did. The restaurant is quite large, so I can’t imagine it ever gets overcrowded, especially as there’s also outdoor seating.

What’s most noteworthy about breakfast at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport is the hours, as it’s served from 4AM until 10:30AM. That’s right, the hotel has a full breakfast buffet at 4AM, which is just about unheard of.

I couldn’t help but arrive at breakfast at 4AM, since I had never seen anything like this before. I sat there for about an hour, and had the place all to myself, until shortly before I left.

The breakfast buffet in the restaurant exceeded my expectations, with a huge variety of Middle Eastern and Western options. The quality was quite good, with all kinds of freshly baked bread and pastries, fruit, yogurt, cold cuts, and several hot dishes.

Drinks were great as well, from freshly squeezed orange juice, to cappuccinos. The servers working in the restaurant were friendly, and kept checking on me (it probably helped that I had the place to myself).

Le Meridien Cairo Airport food & beverage outlets

Above I covered Latitude Bar and EVOO Restaurant, but there are other food and beverage outlets as well, which I didn’t visit.

There’s also Mezzeh Restaurant, which is a Lebanese restaurant that’s open for dinner, and is probably the most high end restaurant at the hotel. There’s also China Red, a Chinese restaurant that’s open for dinner.

Lastly, there’s Live Sports Bar, which is open late into the night. My gosh, people were getting absolutely hammered here, as I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of elevator rides with people leaving here. I also heard live music coming from inside there. At first I thought it was someone intentionally doing very bad karaoke, but then I realized that there was actually a performer (well, at least I assume so, since I heard the same voicer 30 minutes later). Oops.

Bottom line

I’m fond of the Le Meridien Cairo Airport. It’s the most convenient airport hotel in Cairo, and the hotel has an excellent breakfast buffet that starts at 4AM, a coffee shop that’s open 24/7, a pool, a gym, a club lounge, and more.

Whenever I have an overnight in Cairo that’s less than 18 hours or so, I stay here, rather than going into the city, given the traffic. While this is by no means some modern luxury hotel, it’s one I enjoy returning to.

What’s your take on the Le Meridien Cairo Airport?