Sofitel Legend Old Cataract

Sofitel Legend Old Cataract stands on a rock above the Nile at the southern edge of Aswan, looking across the river to Elephantine Island and the desert beyond. Opened in 1899, it is the oldest hotel in Upper Egypt still in use and the one with the strongest literary association, as the hotel where Agatha Christie stayed while writing Death on the Nile. It has been operated by Accor since the 1990s and reopened in 2011 as a Sofitel Legend after a three-year restoration.

History

Thomas Cook & Son built the hotel in 1899 to receive the travellers its Nile steamers brought to Aswan, then a winter resort for Europeans seeking dry air. The first guests arrived at the start of the 1900 season, and within a few years the hotel had hosted royalty, financiers and archaeologists working at Philae and on the first Aswan dam.

Agatha Christie stayed in the 1930s, and Death on the Nile, published in 1937, opens its Egyptian chapters at the Cataract Hotel; the 1978 film was shot there in part. Winston Churchill, King Farouk, the Aga Khan III, whose mausoleum stands on the opposite bank, and later Jimmy Carter, François Mitterrand and Princess Diana all stayed. A second building, the New Cataract, was added beside the original in 1961.

The hotel closed in 2008 for a complete restoration of both buildings under the French designer Sybille de Margerie and reopened in 2011 as Sofitel Legend Old Cataract, Accor's label for historic hotels.

Architecture and design

The original building is Victorian in plan with a Moorish dress: pink granite and ochre walls, horseshoe arches, wooden screens and a long terrace above the river. The dining room, now the 1902 restaurant, is a tall hall with striped arches and a domed ceiling in the Moorish manner. The restoration kept these rooms and added contemporary Egyptian references in fabrics and lighting. The 1961 building, now the Nile Wing, was rebuilt inside as a modern hotel with its own pool and terraces.

Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites are divided between the Palace Wing, the 1899 building with the historic rooms and the terrace, and the Nile Wing. The suites named for Agatha Christie and Winston Churchill are in the Palace Wing and look over the river to Elephantine Island. Most rooms in both wings face the Nile.

Dining

The 1902 restaurant serves dinner in the domed hall of the original building. The terrace above the river serves lunch, tea and drinks at sunset, which is the hotel's best-known ritual, and there are further restaurants and bars in the Nile Wing and by the pools.

Wellness

The hotel has a spa with treatment rooms and a hammam, a fitness centre and two outdoor pools, one on the terrace of each wing.

Weddings and events

The Old Cataract has meeting rooms and function spaces in the Nile Wing and uses its terraces and gardens for receptions with the river as the backdrop. Weddings have been celebrated on the terrace and in the gardens, and the hotel receives conferences and state delegations.

Location

The hotel is on Abtal El Tahrir Street at the southern end of Aswan's corniche, beside the Nubian Museum and a short walk from the souk. The car ride from Aswan International Airport takes about 25 minutes, and from Aswan railway station, the terminus of the sleeper trains from Cairo, about ten minutes. Felucca and motor boats leave from the hotel's landing stage for Elephantine Island and the Aga Khan mausoleum.