New Four Seasons Opens in Egypt

A guest room at the Four Seasons in Alexandria, Egypt, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Alexandria, the former seat of pan-European nobility and home to Queen Cleopatra, has been attracting royalty since 330 B.C. The city is no longer run by a monarch, but continues to attract aristocrats from Europe and the Arabian Peninsula — especially now that a Four Seasons Hotel has just opened its doors.

Occupying a small portion of a massive hotel, retail and residential compound, the Four Season Alexandria's heft gives it a Vegas-like grandeur unprecedented in the land of the Pharaohs. The exterior itself is a sharp contrast to the city's century-old historic grand dames, boldly rising 19 stories above the site of the former five-star San Stefano Hotel. It stands beside a renowned ten-mile-long seaside promenade, the Corniche — which, sadly, cuts off the hotel’s access to the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, guests in the 118 rooms (which start at an astounding 600 square feet) can take in the salty breezes from their sea-front balconies off rooms created by Parisian designer Pierre Yves Rochon, in a palette of lemon and eggshell with Egyptian accents. Or they can take a dip in the sexy infinity-edge pool, which seems to flow straight into the Med just beyond.

While there's no Sin City-styled casino (as per Islamic law), the hotel’s three bars are a nod to Alexandria’s historic sense of tolerance and openness. Meanwhile, its three high-end restaurants make the hotel a go-to spot for food-lovers in town for the weekend. At Byblos, the hotel’s premier dining spot, a simple dish of hummus was somehow both light and creamy, while at Stefano's — the hotel's haute Italian eatery — the lobster risotto comes spiked with saffron and studded with artichokes, and a perfectly crisp veal Milanese arrives simply dressed on a bed of arugula. The 14-room spa, Alexandria’s largest, offers guests Daniela Steiner signature treatments (a healing Balinese massage or a soothing Sport and Fitness massage), along with techniques from far-off lands like Bali and Thailand.

The Four Seasons Alexandria is refreshingly removed from the city center, so the glass-and-steel Bibliotheca and the antiques-filled shops of El-Horreya Street are just a ten-minute cab ride away. But with its urban-resort vibe and easy access to the Corniche and Alexandria's top seafood restaurants, the hotel delivers a Miami sort of vibe, right on the Mediterranean.

Rooms and suites from $290 to $9,000. 399 El Geish Road, Alexandria, Egypt. 20 (3) 581-8000; fourseasons.com/alexandria/.