Al Moudira Hotel

Al Moudira is the West Bank's best-known luxury hideaway, a low-rise cluster of domes, arches and shaded courtyards on the edge of the fields at Hager El Dabayah. It was created by Zeina Aboukheir, who first fell for Luxor on a felucca trip decades earlier and opened the hotel in 2001. Her team nicknamed her "Moudira", the lady boss, and the name stuck. The hotel has since been renovated and expanded under new ownership and became the first privately owned hotel in Egypt to join Relais & Châteaux.

The original buildings were designed by the Egyptian architect Olivier Sednaoui as part palace and part guesthouse, with domes and arches built by local master masons. The later expansion brought in the Swiss landscape architect Tobias Bucher, who designed a library tower, some of the pools and the concept for one of the villas, with contributions from the Egyptian architect Dina Abou Alia. Inside you will find handcrafted wooden doors, terracotta, painted glass from Alexandria, hand-painted tiles and frescoes, and more than 1,500 antiques and crafted pieces gathered for the renovation.

Accommodation is in 54 suites grouped around private courtyards, ranging from Deluxe and Junior suites to Signature, Luxury, Fountain and Family suites, plus separate villas. The grounds cover ten hectares of palm groves and gardens with fountains, and there are pools, wellness facilities and spaces for events.

Food draws on local, seasonal produce, some of it grown on the hotel's own farm. You can eat in the Ottoman Room, in the main courtyard or in the poolside pavilion, and private dinners can be arranged in your suite, on a terrace or on a rooftop. Many guests stay in for the evenings, as the hotel is some distance from the bars and restaurants of the East Bank.

Al Moudira suits couples, honeymooners and travellers who want space and calm between early starts at the tombs. The Valley of the Kings and the other West Bank sites are a short drive away, so you can be at the monuments before the day-trippers arrive from the East Bank. Reaching the town centre means a taxi and the Nile bridge or a ferry crossing, so ask the hotel to arrange transport. Book well ahead for the cooler months, which are the busiest.