Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor

The Winter Palace opened in 1907 on Luxor's corniche, a long ochre Victorian pile between the Nile and a walled tropical garden, and it has been the social headquarters of Egyptology ever since. Howard Carter was a fixture here during the excavation seasons that culminated in the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, and the hotel's noticeboard famously carried bulletins from the dig. A grand central staircase, chandeliered corridors and high-ceilinged salons preserve the era intact.

Rooms in the historic palace wing are the ones to book: tall windows opening to the Nile and the Theban hills beyond, period furniture and that particular Edwardian amplitude of space. The garden behind is a genuine marvel — royal palms, exotic trees and a large heated pool — providing green seclusion in a desert-edged city. Service carries old-fashioned formality that suits the building.

Luxor Temple stands a few minutes' walk along the corniche, Karnak a short drive, and the West Bank's Valley of the Kings begins across the water, making the hotel the natural base for the greatest open-air museum on earth. Dinner in the 1886 Restaurant, jackets requested, followed by a whisky on the Nile-facing terrace, remains one of travel's great period rituals. Choose the modern annexe only if budget demands; the palace is the point.