Small pool. View of the temple and the Nile beyond

There have been plenty of changes in central Luxor recently and the hotel scene is certainly one of them. Once there were a couple of low cost hotels around the temple and backpacker hotels around the station but for comfort hotels most tourists stayed along the Corniche or just outside town in the hotel and restaurant cluster a short way to the south.

The city centre improvements have enabled a growth in small city centre hotels behind the temple, on the edge of the tourist market. The growth has included the improvement of a few of the older hotels but the Susanna is a new one altogether. Opening in the autumn of 2008, the Susanna has 10 single rooms and 35 double rooms over 5 guest floors, with reception, small bar and lounge area on the ground floor below and two further floors above. The floors above provide a restaurant on the 6th floor, with panoramic views through full height glazing over luxor temple, along the avenue of sphinxes and to the west bank. There is also some seating beyond the glazing on a restaurant balcony. A 7th sundeck level has a small pool, bar and loungers with the same views to the temple and along and across the Nile.

Susanna hotel restaurant. View of the temple and Nile

The rooms are quite compact - just right for a short stay or as a base for getting out, but not so good if you intend to spend much time at the hotel.

Rooms are quite small

About half the rooms are on the front elevation and have superb views, uninterrupted by the trees that spoil views to the Nile in some of the hotels that are set back from the river outside the city centre. The balconies are also rather small, but in the city centre you are less likely to be using them for lounging. The other rooms have interesting but less attractive views over the city, with some side-Nile views from the balconies.

The hotel caters mostly for Egyptian guests although there is an international clientele and all signs are in English. Nevertheless, bear in mind that the focus is on local expectations and that if you want something specific you need to check that it is available. In particular, there are no cots for babies, so this is not a hotel for young families.

Other facilities include internet wi-fi for just LE10 per day, an adjoining pharmacy and medical assistance from the owner's family - the owner, his wife and son are all doctors.

View from the pool deck of the Susanna hotel

If you want a bigger room, outside space at ground level, a larger pool or 5 star tourist-type breakfast and other meals, albeit at higher cost, the Susanna would not be for you. However the hotel will attract guests who want a basic but reasonably well featured no-frills central base - close to the market, the station, Luxor temple and the other east bank sights.