Windsor Hotel (Cairo)

The Windsor Hotel
فندق وندسور
Hôtel Windsor
General information
Location Cairo, Egypt
Address 19 Alfi Bey Street
Coordinates 30°03′11″N 31°14′42″E / 30.053°N 31.245°E / 30.053; 31.245
Inaugurated 1893
Website
Official website

The Windsor Hotel (فندق وندسور in Arabic, Hôtel Windsor in French) is a historic hotel in downtown Cairo, Egypt. Constructed in 1893, it is located near Opera Square and across Alfi Bey Street from the site of the former Shepheard's Hotel, of which it once served as an annex.[1] During the First World War, it served as a British Officers Club, and much of its interior and furnishings date to this period.[2] It has been called "an unrestored ode to the days of British colonial travel." [3]

Architecture

Originally constructed in 1893 as part of a royal baths complex, the Windsor Hotel is an example of colonial-era neo-Mamluk architecture. Its exterior facade bears strong resemblance to the interior courtyard facades of the 16th century Wikala of El-Ghouri, a caravanserai located in the nearby Khan el-Khalili souk. It is one of the only surviving examples of Khedivial patronage in this neighborhood of Cairo, which once included the Royal Opera House, Royal Mail, and Ezbakeyyah Gardens, in addition to the hammam complex.

According to engineers at the Schindler Elevator Corporation, the Windsor's manually-operated wooden carriage elevator is the oldest in Egypt and among the oldest operating elevators of its type in the world.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Humphreys, Andrew (2011). Grand Hotels of Egypt in the Golden Age of Travel. Cairo: AUC Press. p. 159. ISBN 9789774164965.
  2. ↑ Humphreys, Andrew (2011). Grand Hotels of Egypt in the Golden Age of Travel. Cairo: AUC Press. p. 165. ISBN 9789774164965.
  3. ↑ The Metropolis of Miracles, Susan Hack, Condé Nast Traveler, January 2008.


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