This boutique hotel is like an oasis in the midst of a city suffused with heavy traffic, heat and dust; and true to its name, it is very charming with carefully designed interiors straight out of a glossy magazine. It has in fact been featured in at least one glossy travel mag placed on each room’s coffee table!
Located in the heart of “Islamic Cairo” quite a long taxi ride from the downtown area, this hotel is probably only suitable for those wanting to immerse themselves in an intense Cairo experience over a few days rather than those just on a short stop over for business or to see the pyramids. That said, a 3-4 day stay in this location is probably enough; we spent our remaining 3 days in Cairo enjoying the various 5 star comforts at the Sofitel Cairo El Gizirah, which we can also recommend!
Taxi drivers often didn’t know how to find this hotel (we were driven all over Cairo by the airport taxi on day 1 much to the driver’s growing frustration), so it’s worth downloading travel directions before arrival. Better still to also have these written in Arabic by the ever-helpful hotel staff so that you can make your way back when you venture out of the walled enclave. Although becoming lost in the nearby narrow lanes of Khan Al Khalili can be fun in the daytime when it is a colourful buzzing bazaar.
Also noteworthy about being in this area is that there is not an alcoholic drink to be had in this hotel or in any of the restaurants elsewhere. So if this matters, bring in your own duty free alcohol to pop in the hotel room’s fridge. Otherwise local brand beer and wine can be bought in ‘Drinkies’ outlets located in the downtown and Zamalek areas of Cairo.
The need to cover-up to avoid unwanted attention, especially for women, is probably also greater in this more traditional Islamic area than elsewhere. So best to pack light trousers or long skirts etc also taking into account the heat, as these are hard to buy locally.
As well as being incredibly stylish, the hotel’s suites are very big, although their layout isn’t very efficient. We’d booked a ‘superior’ executive suite but found that despite it having a very large comfortable bedroom, the TV was in an adjacent sitting room. Preferring to watch TV from bed when on holidays we downgraded to a ‘standard’ suite, to then find it only had reception for Al Jazera channel! This also had multiple rooms, but at the expense of the bedroom size. No balcony, but figure you wouldn't probably sit on this much anyway. The rooms all have huge bathrooms, air-con and laptops with free wifi connection, which was very convenient.
Rooms on the upper levels are also probably best to avoid street noise and being woken at 4am by the calls to prayer from the mosque right next door, and the 50 or so others in the near vicinity! However all rooms have double glazed windows, which were effective in minimising outside noise. This has the added advantage of being near the very pleasant roof-top garden where we chose to have breakfast each morning. Although Nespresso coffee costed extra (5 USD each!), the inclusive fresh orange juice, cheese, pastries, eggs, yoghurt and fruit made for a great start to the day.
While another reviewer questioned this hotel’s value for money at 240 Euros/night, we only paid $210/night for the superior executive room, and in retrospect only needed a standard room priced at just $170 through booking.com, which certainly constitutes good value for what was a unique hotel experience in a very unique part of Cairo.

The upside: Le Riad is absolutely stunning. BTW, it is owned by the same folks who own the Talisman, where I stayed at the beginning of my Egyptian adventure. Le Riad has outdone themselves in their decor. My room (#7) was HUGE; it started with a sitting room with large flat screen TV, an office with small balcony walkout, including laptop computer. Separate bedroom, with king sized bed and gorgeous linens, plus another sitting area. Fantastic bathroom with the best towels I had on my trip, and great accessories. Utterly stunning rooftop garden, and a gorgeous "tea room" off the dining area. Under normal circumstances, it could be considered a 4-5 star hotel. Except for one massive problem: its location.

Here’s the downside: Its placement at the edge of the Khan el Khalili market means that to get there, any driver has to deal with the maze of streets in that area. None of them want to do that. The hotel claimed it could provide drivers to its guests, except that when I asked for one, they could not back up their offer. They did, however, track down a cab for me; it took three of them to negotiate the cab fare to Zamelek. The cabbie on the way back refused to drive me in, and dropped me at the other edge of the Khan el-Khalili market; it took me about 45 minutes to walk back from where he dropped me. The cops who helped me couldn’t believe the cabbie had done that!

The location is also at issue for the time of the week I stayed there; a Wednesday and a Thursday evening. Thursday nights in Cairo are the equivalent of Friday nights in North America; the start of the weekend. The noise from the street “party” was so loud that my 32-decibel rated earplugs could not keep it out, nor the thumping music beat in my room. It was unreal; like being in the front row of a rock concert. On other nights you are subject to the market noise, but more on par with a Times Square kind of constant sound, not the insanity of that weekend all-nighter.

I had no hot water for the first 12 hours or so until we finally discovered that the heater for my room was not on. The promised laptop in the office area could not keep its internet connection. The technician who was up in my room told me this happens a lot.

Breakfast was beautiful. Dinner was not. For dinner, they offer a choice of three different meals for dinner, that have to be booked in advance: Indian, Egyptian, Moroccan. Might as well pass on it. They ordered in from a nearby restaurant, it arrived lukewarm, and I got someone else’s order LOL. The staff argued with me that I had, in fact, ordered it, however, upon investigation with the restaurant, they realized I was not lying. They were smart enough to remove the charge from my bill.

This was an old warehouse that was converted in a "gentrification" attempt. The rooms are up on half levels; there is a small set of about 6-8 stairs to access each level. Apparently, the elevator works only half the time. So: if you have any mobility issues, this is NOT the place, no matter what day of the week.

So here's my ultimate impression: when an Egyptian-style hotel (as opposed to the western chain hotels) charges me 240 EUROS per night, I expect much better than that (their sister hotel, the Talisman, was about 125 Euros a night). Essentially, what I paid for was the interior decorating. If I had to choose between this place and their other hotel, the Talisman that I initially stayed in, I would actually choose the Talisman! Or, for those dollars, I would, indeed, choose a western hotel, such as the Marriott (which was gorgeous, BTW).

While the hotel was gorgeous, the noise and the hotel's inability to provide a level of service that lives up to the visuals and the pricing left me disappointed.

le riad, hotel de charme, delights! as a lover of boutique style hotels, i have stayed in countless around the world and le riad is one of my favorites. the decor and ambiance is tasteful, authentic, unique, elegant (but not stuffy)... imagine staying at a diplomat's private residence. the rooftop garden is an oasis amid the exciting muiz li din allah street (steps from the big market). cleanliness is bar none. and the personal touch is evident from the details to the attention paid to guests to the little treats waiting in your room each afternoon. as a single female traveler (who does not speak egyptian) i felt safe, comfortable and very well taken care of and would have loved to be there with someone special. you cannot ask for more!

Very charming hotel in the center of Cairo in the "Islamic" part.
Rooms are stylish, elegant, clean, and spacious.
Staff is very nice and sweet.
We even got en little welcome/ Xmas present with my husband.
The library on the top of the hotel on the roof gives a great view on the surroundings.