In Luxor, Ancient Egypt feels newly alive

Where to stay in Luxor

A few feet from Habu Temple, recommended for its deeply etched hieroglyphs and particularly well-preserved colors, is a property with its own historic pedigree: the unassuming, 17-room Habu Hotel was one of the first hotels to open on Luxor’s West Bank in the 1920s. It has been given a smart revamp, its public areas now filled with antiques, including stately granite busts and wooden statues from the 1800s. Sundowners on the hotel’s charming rooftop terrace bring you close enough to the temple’s chiseled interior that you can admire its exterior engravings from the comfort of your lounge chair.

A day spent tirelessly exploring Luxor’s sites is best ended in the spa at Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa, where treatment rooms look directly over the Nile and the infinity pool is one of the best spots in the city to catch Luxor’s famous sunsets. This is an ultra-convenient base if you want easy access to the historic sites on Luxor’s East Bank—Karnak Temple, in particular, is within walking distance. A private breakfast on a felucca offers a fresh perspective of the Nile, especially if you time it to coincide with hot-air balloons rising majestically over the Valley of the Kings.

A maximalist dream on the Nile’s West Bank, Hotel Al Moudira was the first Relais and Chateaux property in Egypt. It was founded in 2001 by Italian-Lebanese artist Zeina Aboukheir, who filled it with hand-painted frescoes, antiques, artworks and furniture sourced from across Egypt. Under new ownership since 2022, the hotel offers easy access to the West Bank’s infinite sites—if you can bear to drag yourself away from its cool bougainvillea and palm-covered grounds. Six new villas offer the same, much-loved aesthetic, with a touch of extra privacy.

For a stripped-back stay that’ll make you feel like an Egyptologist of old, head to Marsam Hotel, which started life as the excavation house for the University of Chicago, before being converted into a hotel in 1939. There’s (very intentionally) no swimming pool or TVs; the 29 pared-back rooms and five suites are designed for guests who are serious about exploring the many sites that surround this historic hotel. Whether or not you spend the night, make time for lunch at Marsam’s farm-to-table restaurant, where the menu changes daily and you’ll be serenaded by the resident donkeys, camels and horses.

A version of this story originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller ME. This article appeared in the December 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.