Aswan's finest hotel had fallen into some disrepair over the years. Although it has one of the most commanding views of any grand hotel in Egypt, tourists simply used Aswan as a start or end of a Nile Cruise and spent little time actually in the city.

Enter the luxury company of Sofitel who poured millions into refurbishment. The elegant hotel opens in September, 2011. Built in the Nubian Desert on the banks of the Nile opposite Elephantine Island, the majestic pink granite of the original complex has been preserved.

The hotel offers two types of luxury rooms: colonial design (which it calls "heritage") and more modern, contemporary design. There are 62 rooms and 14 suites, 4 restaurants and bars, a full business center, a fitness center and beautiful pool.

What Sofitel understands most of all, is that a good hotel in Aswan allows travelers to position themselves with the chaotic frency otherwise required, to tour Abu-Simbel, as well as take the standard Aswan tours more leisurely.