Aside: Hotel Accomodations in a Nutshell

Here are the places I've stayed at, the good, the bad, and the ugly! don't know prices of all, but plenty of info nevertheless!

---

Mson's Scale:
1 = Equivalent to Sleeping Under a Bridge, with a Sleeping Bag
2 = Blah!
3 = Meh!
4 = Good
5 = Excellent

---

Happy City Hotel (Cairo)

Mson's Rating: 3
- Looks great on the outside, not so great inside. No shampoo, slanted rack below mirror, toilet looks very ghetto, shower is small.
- Had a small TV with unlimited p0rn... AC doesn't work (only fan mode). Has a bar fridge that can't keep freezies cold.

Note: This might be an unfair rating since it seems all hotels in Egypt only has a little small TV; bath tubs seem abnormally small. Toilet paper is always made of the 'on-rub-turns-grey' material.

---

Marhaba Hotel (Aswan)

Mson's Rating: 4
- Friendly and honest staff (though they didn't know english too well). Has an outdoor pool and table tennis table. Pool is run by a kid, for sure a swim at your own risk pool (no aids anywhere)
- Room is well equipped (no shampoo), but tons of towels and soap. Water heated by boiler that needs to be manually turned on initially.
- Carrier brand AC (very good) and has a bar fridge

---

Felucca (the Nite)

Mson's Rating: 3.5
- Sleeping in a felucca is a great experience; but DEFINITELY not for the weak or those prone to diarrhea. Be expected to have to hold it in if you wanna do a late night dump, since there are no toilets on board. Lots of mosquitoes at night (and maybe flies)...so remember to cover up and spray yourself with insect repellent.
- Natural AC at night (it gets a tad chilly, but nothing like camping in Algonquin in May)

---

Sleeper Train (...?)

Mson's Rating: 3.25
- 'First Class' car we had (every car was labelled first class actually); room has 2 beds, a sink and a mirror. A bit hard to move around once both beds are down, but if you just sleeping, it shouldn't matter right? Due to the bumpiness of the railway, ladder to top bed and others slightly loose items will rattle throughout the night; but still was able to fall asleep right away on both occasions. Very rejuvenating sleep!

---

Flobater Hotel (Luxor)

Mson's Rating: 2.5
- No AC in main hall, security sleeps in the afternoon (yes, lucky he's not one of those guards with an AK47), lights don't all work, AC in room, no shampoo.
- Two swimming pools --> very well advertised... thought it was a great jacuzzi or something; turns out its a 10m x 10m pool and a kiddie pool that isn't even on.
- Did have a balcony though, but no bar fridge.

---

Regency Hotel (Alexandria)

Mson's Rating: 3
- Very big room, but bathroom is pretty ghetto. Shower is smaller than the ones I had back at 134 Columbia...and it leaks... forming a puddle of water no matter how skillfully I shower. Never seen a washroom so flooded!
- Beds have a u-shape form to it... so either a very fat man slept on it, or they got some pretty nifty mattresses! It was a good sleep though (I spent the most on this bed compared to all other hotels thus far since I wasn't feeling well)
- Aside from the bathroom, the place is very nice though. Main dining room faces the Mediterranean, room is freshly painted.

---

Place @ St. Catherine's Monastery (Mt Sinai)

Mson's Rating: 1
- We traded a place with an outdoor pool the size of Cummer for this place!!! But what did we find? A place that had no AC, no TV, but mosquito infested. Lucky we were only there for 4 hours before the 2am hike. See the video for more details!
- On another note, the breakfast wasn't too great either... flies everywhere and all they had was bread and cold cuts and supposedly hot (but cold) potato with onion thing.

---

Dahab Resort (Dahab)

Mson's Rating: 4.25
- First bathroom that was actually decorated and matches the main room! The sink counter was decent, the shower was decent, and the room is humongous!
- Such a big difference than the St Cath's monastery guest house. TV is the biggest by far, and the place even has a balcony. AC is a given and shampoo (though in a really ghetto pack) was actually present.
- The surroundings also nicely done. Secluded from everything, its beach front has a coral reef... pretty good place. Guess that's why this is a 4 star resort.
- Only ghetto thing was they used a green patio table as the deck for this large room... completely clashing with the rest of the decor
- Also has a gym, as well as a sizable pool with water polo nets, and a pool table free for use.

---

Sara Inn [Hostel] (Cairo)

Mson's Rating: 2.75
- Can't really give it a 3 since it is a hostel. Common shower, but 35 EGP, so can't really say its bad at all.
- Bathroom and washroom is in the same room, with dividers. Pure V1 styles! Free Internet and mosquito free!

---

Desert Safari Hotel [Hostel] (Cairo)

Mson's Rating: 2.5
- Very friendly and helpful owner. Big room but not liking the food for mosquitoes concept. Free Internet, travellers are younger than Sara Inn.
- In general better than Sara Inn, if only there were less mosquitoes!

---

White Desert (Western Desert)

Mson's Rating: 3
- At the beginning, this place'd easily be a 1. Tons of flies everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE...buzzzzzzzzz. But apparently flies go to bed as well; so once that happened, it was beautiful! Sleeping under the stars (no tent tarp overhead) just made me not want to sleep. Also the moon shines brightly in the sky later on in the night, making it even more nice! Wasn't too hot nor too cold, so it was perfect!
Only downs:
1) Tour guides
2) Dirty and dusty mats (ya, sooo ghetto), lucky I had long sleeves shirt and pants and a hood
3) Flies wake up in morning when sun rises
4) Foxes walk freely at night (slippers of driver got taken away)... looking at the sand, saw animal tracks (likely from the same fox) right next to where I slept. My smelly shoes must have scared it away!