Steigenberger Cecil Hotel Alexandria

The Steigenberger Cecil Hotel stands on Saad Zaghloul Square in Raml Station, facing the Eastern Harbour across the Corniche. It was built in 1929 by the Metzger family, and guests over the years included Somerset Maugham, Winston Churchill and Al Capone. The hotel also appears in Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet and Naguib Mahfouz's novel Miramar. For many years it was run as a Sofitel, and it joined Steigenberger in 2014.

Inside, the hotel has kept its period lobby, marble floors and wrought-iron cage lifts. There are 85 rooms and 3 suites, and the sea-facing rooms look out over the harbour. The Citadel Restaurant serves the breakfast buffet and Mediterranean dishes. Monty Bar is named after Field Marshal Montgomery, who stayed here during the Second World War. The Terrace Café sits on the waterfront promenade.

There is no pool or spa, so the hotel suits travellers who care more about history and a central location than resort facilities. The Alexandria National Museum is about five minutes away on foot, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Roman Amphitheatre at Kom el-Dikka are each about 20 minutes' walk away.