The highlight of this hotel is its magnificient garden and wonderful heated swimming pool, that my daughter enjoyed immensely. Its truly an oasis of calm and peace. The room with garden view was spacious and comfortable. I enjoyed looking out at the garden from our balcony while listening to the numerous overlapping calls to prayer. The hotels location is also prime, as its walking distance to the temple and Nile. The breakfast included was adequate, and one can enjoy it outside on the terrace. Very civilized and all:), especially when next door to the Winter Palace. The food ordered by the pool and room service was pretty good, but we ordered only burgers and club sandwiches. We did order in a chocolate mousse which made us briefly ill. Thankfully, our daughter did not eat and did not get sick. Mostly we ate out where it was cheaper. Wifi access was free by the pool and in the the lobby of the Winter Palace. The common rooms of the Palace and the bar was quite lovely and have maintained its charm.
Now the bad news. If it would not be for the voice of reason of my spouse I would give this hotel one star. Namely, for the fact that the rooms were a hot box, infested with mosquitos that almost ate my daughter alive. I am surprised that none of the previous reviewers have mentioned this problem. I remember reading a review from last year, same time as we went that said the same thing, only to be negated by another reviewer who said there were no such problem. I am confused and do not understand, how this could be, unless it effects only certain areas of the hotel. The hotel's solution for the heat was to provide an electric fan. This is something you would expect from a hostel, not a so called jewel of Luxor. A simple screen door would solve this problem as it was cool at night and it would also keep the mosquitos away. The fumigation the hotel does is not enough.

The good:stunning,meticulously maintained gardens which I dont think any other hotel in Luxor has. Carpeted rooms which are as good as most 5 stars I've been to with a warm homely feel.Free wifi access around pool and Lobby of Winter palace hotel.Also access to free internet on computer in Lobby of winter pavillion and there is an additional complimentary use computer terminal in the winter pavillion itself on the basement/ground floor of the winter palace hotel.Large heated swimming pools set in lush gardens.The service from staff was impeccably professional and natural.You will have full access to all facilities of the Winter Palace which is the hotel dignitaries and royalty stay at when in Luxor.Excellent breakfast but if you were staying for more than a week--I would want more choices.
The Bad:Extortionate prices for wifi access in your room.This is unacceptable.It should be complimentary without question in this day and age.Food both from room service and by the pool was lousy.I cant comment on the winter palace since I had brought no smart clothes and the costs seemed prohibitive especially since the menu didnt bowl me over.Food in Luxor in general to me was very poor...so poor that I dont think I would ever return.If I did I would return to this hotel.
The Ugly:Hassle in the streets and souks is just outrageous.I am well travelled and I have to say I had more hassle here than in Marrakech;which is saying something.
Tips:take a compass..its very easy to walk all around Luxor on foot;go shopping and walking in the areas where the locals go.Please be generous when tipping as Luxor has enormous poverty.Locals only earn $40 per month.....trips i really enjoyed here 1.Space Observers with Kris where you will go out into the dessert and see the sky at night with the help of very powerful telescopes. and 2.the air balloon rides.3 go to a local perfume shop where only Egyptians go so you dont get ripped off and make your own perfume/aftershave--for this take an interpreter.. also if you take a guide for the trips to the archelogical sites I recommend meeting them first as their English might be difficult for you to understand and enthusiasm and knowledege vary which can therefore spoil your experience of the place as it did for me.

Chose a two-hotel break to Luxor this year, stopping first at the Winter Palace Pavillon first three nights then back to our favourite, Maritim Jolie Ville.

Our room was lovely, and best of all the balcony overlooked the beautiful hotel gardens. We dined in the restaurant the first night (dining options in the hotel with limited and quite expensive). The meal was lovely though the restaurant was incredibly quiet.

Breakfasts were ok - sitting on the terrace was lovely, but there wasn't as much choice as in some other hotels.

The pool was really stunning - the water a good temperature and the poolside service very good. I was really disappointed the swim-up bar was not open - it was one of the reasons we booked.

All in all, if we had not been to other hotels in Luxor we would have been very happy staying here, and would recommend it on.

The Winter Palace Pavilion is an unremarkable 6 story building containing rooms and facilities that would rate about 3.5 to 4 stars by normal international standards. What makes it special is that it is tucked at the back of the grounds of the original Winter Palace hotel, the 'grande dame" of the hotels in Luxor. Pavilion guests have access to all the facilities of the main hotel, at less than half the price of the rooms there. The Pavilion rooms are pleasant, with comfortable beds, decent TV with international news channels, and a room safe. The mini bar is surprisingly inadequate -- it offers just two beers, six soft drinks, and two fruit juices, rather than the range of drinks and snacks one would expect. The bathrooms are OK -- granite floors, marble sink top, but walls tiled with cheap ceramic, and you bathe in one of those old shower-in-tub setups. There are a couple of good quality bathrobes, though.

The original Winter Palace is a noble rectangular building fronting the Nile, with just a street and a promenade between the hotel and the river. It has handsome, high-ceilinged public spaces, the usual grand staircase with chandelier, and a liberal scattering of genuine antiques. There's a public balcony facing the river, where you can take tea and watch the sun set over the Nile. The grounds of the hotel are extensive and lovely, and filled with specimen plants and trees and manicured lawns. There is a very large heated pool -- how they heat this volume of water I don't know, especially in winter when the pleasant daytime temperatures drop sharply during the night. Early one morning, I noticed that the outside temp was 17C / 62F, but the pool temp was a mellow 28C / 82F. There are several restaurants to choose from -- one in the Pavilion, one at poolside, and two more at the main hotel. The best restaurant and the main bar require jackets and ties for gentlemen, but the hotel recognizes that Pavilion types may not have packed any, and helpfully lends them if necessary. The clients of the main hotel -- mostly Old European Money when I was there -- doubtless bring the correct attire with them as a matter of course.

The staff is one of the most attentive, competent, and best trained that I have seen anywhere. Many of the older ones have spent their working lives at the hotel and they are fully attuned to all the whims and oddities of diverse foreign clients, and take everything in stride with aplomb. They obviously take pride in working at this famous institution.

A big problem for me was the inadequate internet facilities of the hotel, as I rely on a good connection to talk via skype to my family when I travel, not to mention handling ordinary email. The hotel offers a wifi connection in the rooms, which you have to pay for via one of those old fashioned scratch cards. Unfortunately there was no connection at all in the room for almost the entire week I was there. The next wifi option was the pool area, where there is a free wifi signal, but it is far too weak to do any serious internet searches (for tourism information, for example) The next option after that is the lobby of the original hotel, where there is a stronger free wifi signal -- sometimes. A couple of times I managed to make a skype call, but most of the time the signal was so weak that even ordinary websites timed out before they could be opened, and often there was no signal at all. A final option is a single free computer terminal in the Pavilion lobby -- but as this serves over a hundred rooms, there were usually other guests waiting to use it. Lousy and/or outrageously priced internet services are a chronic issue at Sofitel Hotels (a holdover from the days when France spurned the internet as an Anlgo-American cultural intrusion?), but to have this level at service at what is supposed to be a 5 star hotel is just not acceptable and I would not stay here again for this reason. I must say I had no problem getting excellent hotel internet at other Egyptian hotels on this visit.