For the place
Al Moudira
Luxor · Egypt
Most people do Luxor from the east bank, off a cruise boat or out of a chain near the temples. Al Moudira sits on the other side of the river, out among the palm groves and the tombs, and it is the reason to cross.
Zeina Aboukheir built the place at the turn of the century, on farmland within sight of the hills that hide the Valley of the Kings. She wanted something between a palace and a country house, and had it put together from salvaged pieces of an older Egypt: carved doors and mashrabiya screens, stone and tile rescued from buildings that were coming down elsewhere. What she got is a honeycomb of courtyards and domed rooms, frescoed and shuttered, that feels a good deal older than it is. The workmen took to calling her the Moudira, the woman in charge, and the name went on the gate.
Dinner is the set piece. Tables are laid by candlelight around a courtyard, the cooking Egyptian and Mediterranean, mezze and slow dishes brought without much fuss. Breakfast runs late under the arcades, and the bar keeps its own quiet corner. The kitchen does not chase stars. It feeds you well in a room you will remember, which on the west bank counts for a lot.
There are grander hotels in Egypt, and slicker ones. Few have this much character, or this address. Al Moudira puts the Theban necropolis on the doorstep, then gives you a big pool and a garden to come back to through the worst of the afternoon heat, and rooms that were made one at a time. It is a fair drive from the airport and the west bank goes quiet after dark, which is rather the point. Cross for the tombs and the temples, and give yourself a few nights on this side to let Luxor slow down around you.
