I, as a very bad Egyptian, have never been to Alexandria. Not because I didn’t want to. I never really had the time and couldn’t be bothered, so I was ecstatic when I was invited for a weekend at Hilton King’s Ranch Hotel in Alexandria for its grand opening.
I headed to the hotel on a Thursday morning and, driving up to there, I had all these grand plans of discovering Alexandria, exploring the place, the Great Library, the sea and all that. I did. I really did. None of that materialized though, because the hotel turned out to be so transfixing that leaving it at any point stopped being an option about a minute after we walked in.
Hidden in the outskirts of Alexandria, you walk through the Hilton King’s Ranch gates and find yourself transported into every staycationer’s dream. The pool could go for days, their ranch is absolutely gorgeous and their spa is the biggest in the country. As soon as I arrived, I headed to Teatro for lunch (I WAS SO HUNGRY OKAY?!?!) and had one of the best, if not the bestest, beef goulash of my life. I checked into my room afterwards, which was very spacious and had a dessert disguised as a burger, which was the cutest thing ever, but also one of the reasons why I have trust issues.
Later, I joined Christian Muhr (Hilton’s Vice President of Operations, Egypt and Levant) and Karim Helmy (General Manager of Hilton King’s Ranch). They told me all about their plans about the place and where they see Egypt’s tourism is heading.
“The only way there is to go is up. We have been in this market for more than 50 years. We are the largest hotel operator in the world, and with a portfolio of 18 properties strategically located in the country, I’m very certain tourism will go back to what it once was,” says Muhr.
“What makes the Hilton King’s Ranch special is its location. It’s well situated, where it acts as the ultimate place for everyone who wants to have a weekend getaway and escape the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s near the airport, the stadium and, of course, the North Coast,” Helmy stressed.
It was almost 7 PM and I had to get ready and be all mozza-upped for the Gala Dinner as the hotel officially opened its doors. To say it was extravagant would be an understatement: there were fireworks (and not the same boring stuff you see everywhere), superstar Bushra, football legend Essam El-Hadary and many familiar faces, but the most important thing of all was the food. The food was glorious.
WE SAID THIS: Moral of the story is: I need to go to 46 Beautiful Photos of Alexandria That Prove It’s Still Glorious again.
