Old Cataract Hotel

Aswan, Egypt. Infinity pool overlooking the Nile, indoor heated pool and spa with hammam.

Old Cataract HotelAswan, Egypt

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Practical information

Since the 2011 restoration: 76 rooms and 45 suites in the historic Palace Wing, and 62 rooms in the Nile Wing, all with a river-view balcony.
Restaurants including the 1902, a French restaurant named after the year of the original dining room, and the Oriental Kebabgy.
Infinity pool overlooking the Nile, indoor heated pool and spa with hammam.
Located on the banks of the Nile in Aswan, the setting Agatha Christie used in Death on the Nile.

11 dates, written by Grand Hotels of the World from the sources below.

1899
Thomas Cook builds the Cataract Hotel to accommodate European travellers visiting Assouan, as Aswan was then called.
8 January 1900
The two-storey hotel opens with 120 rooms.
1902
Its success leads to a third storey with 100 more rooms and a dining room designed by architect Henri Favarger.
20th century
Guests include Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter and Agatha Christie, who set part of Death on the Nile here.
1961
A modern tower, the New Cataract, is added; the original building becomes known as the Old Cataract.
1973
Henry Kissinger and his team stay in the New Cataract during negotiations to end the Yom Kippur War.
1978
The film adaptation of Death on the Nile is shot at the hotel.
1990s
Accor takes over management of both wings, first under its Pullman brand, then under Sofitel.
18 October 2011
After a three-year restoration merging both wings into one hotel, it reopens as the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan.
2016
The hotel is the main filming location of CBC’s Egyptian adaptation of the Spanish series Gran Hotel.
1 May 2026
Mandarin Oriental takes over management; the tower wing is renovated and the hotel is due to become Mandarin Oriental Old Cataract in July 2027.