We visited the hotel in January 2011, before the revolution, and again in December the same year. As it is situated one kilometre from Tahir square, I would have expected the security to be stepped up, but it was the same farce as before:

There are two controls to pass when you arrive by car. At the first, the gate is opened for anyone. At the second, a walk around with a dog is performed. They have two dogs that work shifts, but I don't know what they are supposed to detect. Explosives? My suspicious mind (E. Presley) tells me they are merely dogs walking around the car.

Outside the entrance, there is an x-ray machine. You must place your hand luggage in it, but not your suitcases. Why only the hand luggage?

Both ends of the machine are outside the entrance. You get your scanned bag back, and could - in theory - put eventual contraband back in before entering the hotel.

You have to pass through a metal detector to get in. Your telephone, keys and wallet are put in a tray. But you are not required to remove your belt or jewelry. The machine beeps all the time, but no-one is searched.

(In Egypt, there are metal detectors also at the entrance of museums and archaeological sites. These also beep for almost every visitor, without any action being taken. I don't know why they keep on performing this comedy. They should either remove the controls or actually perform them. The present charade reflects badly on Egypt as a state and the Egyptian mentality).

With these thoughts of security in mind, the hotel still feels perfectly safe. In these low days for Egyptian tourism, there is an abundance of staff. The rooms are comfortable and modern. Everything is well maintained. The breakfast was abundant and good. We stayed at the 34th floor, with fabulous view over the city centre, the Nile and the pyramids.

One small minus, or thing to remark, is that the lack of tourists also lead to a lack of tips. Coming from Norway, it takes a little while to adjust to everybody expecting an Egyptian pound or five in their hand at all times. The staff at the hotel actually several times knocked on our doors to ask if it was anything they could do for us. The reason for this, of course, was to create a pretext for tips. It is NOT good service, and not worthy of a five star hotel, to disturb your guests. If you know that the guests are in their rooms, you should never knock their doors!

Likewise, the staff seemed to operate at odd times of day. Weather we came in on 10 p.m. or were up at 5 a.m. to get a plane, the staff were always right outside our doors, with their trollies and real or pretended tasks. This amount of overtime did not seem necessary in a hotel that was 9/10 empty.

The breakfast was included, but we were inquired about our room number when entering the breakfast room. After having eaten, we had to sign the bill (!) although we had ordered nothing. Again, I assume, in order to construct a situation where tips could be expected. Although it is a buffet breakfast, the room swarmed with waiters, whose only task was to serve coffee and tea.

Well, there is bad times for Egyptian tourism now. For people that make 500 - 1.500 Egyptian pounds (£55 - 165 or $83 - 249) per month, usual pay for lower staff, the hunger for tips is fully understandable. But for the hotel, the Grand Nile Tower, to maintain its reputation as a first class choice in Cairo, the security must be real and honest, and a firm line must be drawn against begging.