Al Moudira, a legendary Luxor hotel, is reborn

Al Moudira, a legendary Luxor hotel, is reborn

Ask someone who has stayed at Al Moudira to describe the hotel, and the odds are good that person will eventually deploy the word “oasis”. Unlike so many places across north Africa that lay claim to that descriptor, this one, which opened at the shaggy green edges of Luxor in 2002, merits it entirely and on many levels. First, there is its physical remove from Luxor city – on the Nile’s west bank, away from the bustle and cacophony of river cruisers and tourists. The generosity of its gardens is another: bougainvillea froths over roof edges, hundreds of mature date palms cast skeins of shade, fountains chatter in the cool courtyards of low, rosy-walled pavilions. The food is elegant; the staff ultra-competent. There’s a bar furnished with claw-footed chairs and settees and hung with suzani-like curtains. At night when it’s lit with candles, you half expect to find Lawrence Durrell or Jean Cocteau holding court.

The hotel’s buildings, each organised around a central courtyard, were designed by Olivier Sednaoui, the London-trained Egyptian architect who also designed Christian Louboutin’s house a few miles away. The rooms and suites they hold are enormous. Gilded domed ceilings studded with stained-glass eyes soar 5m high; walls are stencilled