Isis Corniche Hotel

Isis Corniche Hotel Review

All that work you put in on the Stairmaster is good preparation for a stay here. Not only does this hotel sit smack-dab on the waterfront, it's a quick two-block walk to the restaurants and shops of the souk, and a ferry ride away from Aswan's islands and West Bank—so long as several flights of stairs are no bother. Down, down to the lobby from the Corniche, then up, up to your bungalow, down then up again to return to street level. The property appears to be of an age where perpetual renovations are needed. Hope that you find yourself in one of the updated rooms, where a fresh coat of paint, newer furniture, and regrouted baths will go a long way to give this hotel some of its long-lost allure. Someday, when all rooms are thus refurbished, it might regain the fourth star it lost a few years back. Now, if management could just install deadbolts (locks are of the push-button variety), you wouldn't need to block the door each night before retiring. Each room has a terrace and is set among reestablished shrubs and flower beds; Nile-side rooms give up the terrace for water-level views.