Rooms

The 40 rooms are very private. They are scattered about in a number of different buildings, all of which use mud brick and palm wood as their main ingredients. There are no different categories of room. Instead, rooms are assigned depending on how many other guests are staying at the hotel, with an emphasis on protecting your privacy. Only one has a bath, put in for Prince Charles when he came to stay a couple of years ago.

Some rooms are enormous, the size of a couple of squash courts. Others are smaller altogether. One twin we saw comprised two small rooms with a shaded terrace in between. Many have walls made from blocks of salt, hexagonal chunks cut from the beds of Siwa’s saline lakes. There is no electricity whatsoever. At night, candles provide your light (you might want to bring a torch). They are lit when you are at dinner and you return to find them flickering from alcoves cut into your bedroom wall.

Several rooms have terraces or balconies, a couple of which hold proper beds in case you want to sleep under the stars. Many have cushioned seating areas; all have shuttered windows, which are generally kept closed to stop the sun invading the room. You get desert colours, Siwan rugs and red stone bathrooms with walk-in showers (gas-fired boilers provide lashings of hot water). Beds are turned down while you‘re at supper and come smartly attired in crisp white linen. There are no wardrobes, just pegs in the wall. You might find a sofa at the end of your bed.

Features include:

• In-room treatments available

Eating

All meals are included in the price, as are all drinks, including alcohol. Much of the food comes from the hotel’s organic farm, which you can visit. Everything else is homemade: the breads, the jams, even some of the cheeses. There’s a no-choice menu for lunch and dinner, though dislikes are taken into consideration, and the food itself is delicious. There is, apparently, enough variety to go for 21 days without repeating the same dish.

Breakfast is served by the lake. You get a mix of Egyptian and western dishes, perhaps scrambled eggs, bean soup, freshly baked bread and homemade olive jam. There’s tea and coffee, fruit and yoghurt, fresh juices.

Lunch is served in the palm trees down by the swimming pool. It is usually a vegetarian meal, as is traditional in the oasis. You might have imam bayaldi (baked aubergine with vegetables) or macaroni with salad. Everything is brought to your table. You get baskets of warm bread and there’s a bar from which you can help yourself.

Dinner is a pageant - and you never eat in the same place twice. If you wander around the hotel’s buildings, you’ll discover a number of open courtyards and roof terraces, and these come to life at night, when you are escorted to your private dining room under the stars. When you get there, you’ll find candles by the score illuminating your table. Then comes the food, perhaps shish kebabs with pumpkin couscous or aromatic chicken stuffed with rice. Puddings will be sweet, as is the Egyptian way. Very special.

Features include:

• All meals included
• Bar
• Organic produce
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Climb the mountain after which the hotel is named: white mountain. A path leads up to the top and takes about 20 minutes to climb. The views are predictably magnificent
  
  
• The hotel organises 2 excursions a day, both included in the price. In the morning there’s a trip into Siwa. You might visit the shali, (the ruined citadel in the middle of town); the Temple of the Oracle (following in the footsteps of Alexander the Great); Gebel al-Mawta (the Mountain of the Dead), where you’ll find 2,000-year-old tombs. It’s also possible to visit the hotel’s organic farm
  
  Every afternoon there’s a trip into the desert. You’ll come across Roman tombs cut into the sandstone hills; ancient fossil beds; vast sand dunes that mark the start of the Great Sand Sea; hot springs where you can bathe. At sunset, you’ll drink mint tea in the dunes and watch the sky turn red. Unmissable
  
  
• The hotel has a resident masseuse and massages can be arranged in your room, using Siwan olive oil
  
  
• Horse riding in the desert is offered in winter
  
  
• Decamp into the desert at night to enjoy dinner under the stars

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Horse riding
• Shopping / markets

Kids

Children of all ages welcome; kids aged 5 and under stay for free when sharing a room with their parents. There are no extra beds but there are additional beds in three of the largest rooms.

Best for:

Children (4-12 years), Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

Families should take either the Royal Desert Room or one of the two Special Desert Rooms which can accommodate children.

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Adrere Amellal is located 16km outside the oasis town of Siwa, which is on the edge of the Great Sand Sea in Egypt. It's 800km from Cairo (7-10 hours west depending on how fast your driver goes) or 300km south of Mersa Matruh on the Mediterranean coast.

By Air:
Mersa Matruh is the closest airport, but only has occasional charter flights, so most people fly into Cairo International and then travel overland (rather dauntingly 800km away!) Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving this airport.

From the Airport
This might sound profligate, but a private transfer from Cairo airport probably makes sense - as it's a pretty good rate for such a long journey. They’ll meet you off your flight, you can stop at El Alamein, you won’t have to pay for a hotel in Cairo. Enquire when booking. Another option is to hire an air-conditioned luxury minibus with a driver (enquire at your Cairo hotel; if there are more than 5 of you it may be more economical than getting the bus, and obviously more convenient). The final option is to take the overnight bus - this is what expats living in Siwa do. Someone from the hotel will meet you in Siwa.

By Bus:
You can catch a bus from Giza, Almaza or Torgoman bus stations in Cairo, with an easy change in Mersa Matruh. Torgoman is near the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It's also easy to take a bus here from Alexandria and Bahariyya; enquire when booking. Someone from the hotel will meet you in Siwa.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Egypt and getting around