I recently stayed here for three nights and will gladly warn other travelers of my experiences. I emailed the hotel to book a room in advance of my travels, and was given a rate much higher than advertised on their website. I decided it was probably just outdated website, and agreed to the room rate. The woman instructed me to just bring dollars instead of getting taken advantage of by the exchange rate at the airport. The rate from the osirus just happened to be the worst exchange rate I experienced during my stay in Egypt (another scam) Just before departing on my trip, I was told they were sold out of single rooms, and the only thing they had left was a 5 bedroom suite - I was out of time to book another place, so I agreed. After 24 hours travel time, I arrived exhausted to a filthy part of town,(most of cairo) and a smoke filled hotel. She immediately asked for the room money almost before saying hello which was a bit of a turnoff. I paid for the room, three nights in advance, *cash only* and was given the key to a single bed room. Too tired to argue it out, I just went to sleep. The room was clean enough, but there was a raw sewage smell from the janky plumbing, and no shower curtain - so water flooded the entire bathroom, for which they give you a squeegee for... Breakfast was minimal and served luke warm, but what really burned me is that I was told I was 5 minutes too late for breakfast, but watched as a french family got served after I was told no. ( so much for french/american tension )
I spend my days wandering the city alone, and I get the fact that tourism is down 80% there, but the level of manipulation that takes place really caught me off guard, and dealing with this hotel was no difference that getting hassled by the street hustlers. Bottles of water are charged to the room at four times the price on the street. The constant push of "tours" is understandable from the street hoods, but when I go back to my temporary home to seek solace and rest, it should stop, but doesn't. The hotel is constantly filled with cigarette smoke, and the upper deck viewing area hadn't been cleaned in months as witnessed by the 1/4 inch of brown crud on everything. I attempted to resolve the price difference as there were only two other guests staying there, but was met with a bitter and angry violent woman fighting for her last little dollar - whatever, you got me.... This woman hideous and repulsive, and the hotel is the same. I would never stay here or recommend it to anyone else. Despite starting my adventure with this crappy hotel, I did however have a wonderful time in lovely Egypt - The people in general are warm and friendly, and I felt safe everywhere I traveled from the inner city to rural countryside. The street vendors are incessant to get your money - but my conversations and interactions with those who had nothing to sell - priceless...

I trusted Lonely Planet's recommendation and booked a night here. Hotel itself is decent even though a bit overpriced. They definitely benefited by being the "Our Pick" by Lonely Planet. I definitely fell for it. It's clean enough and the location is good too. My only problem was with the slimy owner who kept pushing for us to book every transport, tour options with him. We booked a driver for Giza, Saqqara, and Red pyramids which ended up being a okay. We planned on going to Dahab by bus but the owner kept pressuring us to take a van that he arranged. Three of us finally agreed to share a van with 2 others staying at the hotel splitting the cost. But hours before departure, the 2 others backed out and we didn't want to pay for their portion. (We had already paid our portion to the owner who wouldn't give us back the money when we opted for our original plan by bus). He told us "Pay the driver the other portion if you want" like why the heck would we do that. When it was finally departure time, he told us everything's cool...only after we arrived in Dahab, the driver demanded the rest of the fare from us. We of course didn't pay but it left me angry that the owner tried to rip us off and he probably ripped off the driver too. It just left a sour taste in my mouth after what would've been a great stay. I don't understand all the positive reviews about the owner. The positive review from Lonely Planet is undeserved.

My husband and I went to Cairo in late December 2011. We stayed at the Osiris Hotel which is a short walk from Tahrir Square. The entire time we felt safe. Yes there are protests occasionally occurring Fridays after mid day prayer, but we were there earlier in the week and were able to wander around Tahrir, access the Egyptian museum, etc. with no worries. The hotel was great. Very pleasant, with great views of Cairo (nice to be high up and not hear the traffic). Staff were all friendly and helpful. I would not hesitate to stay at Osiris again!

We stayed here as a couple in November 2011, luckily flying out the day the recent riots turned ugly. The hotel was initially hard to find, luckily the driver had eagle eyes and deposited us in front of a rather grimy looking office block with a sign for the hotel on the inside of the entrance. Going up to the top floor in the small rickety lift you step out into the clean but simple tiled floor hotel. The rooms are clean, no frills, bathrooms small, no shower screen so floor gets wet but like others have mentioned this is common around this part of the world. Bed was firm but adequate, breakfast adequate, not exciting but for the price it was ok.
The French owner is helpful, she warned us to stay away from the square as a result of advance warning of the demonstration so we thought it was a good day to take a day trip to Alexandria. We chose to organize our own sightseeing, preferring to do things independently, and we found this was a much cheaper option than the ones offered by the hotel. Wifi was available though hit and miss, with you needing to sit in a corner near the officecat times to get it to work. The owner was helpful with a map and with telling us about some local eateries. The hotel was in a good location just to wander around, list of non touristy pockets and streets to enjoy soaking up everyday Egyptian life.
One downside was the smell of smoke throughout the hotel, not bad in the rooms luckily, but in the lobby it was pretty strong as a result of the owners and some guests smoking there, not great for the non smokers.