Virtual Tourist recommends Flats in Luxor

A lovely recommendation in Virtual Tourist for a change Just returned from my first visit to Egypt, and stayed in the beautiful apartments owned by Jane and Mahmoud of "Flats in Luxor". In the heart of the rural West Bank at Luxor, the experience was like a magical trip back in time, but with all modern comforts! Stunning views over lush farmland, as far as the Theban Hills and Hatshepsut's temple, hot air balloons floating aloft at dawn - yes, we'll definitely return! A fabulous experience!!

Guest Book
Despite the best efforts of the help desk at Bravenet I cannot get my guest book to display in Internet Explorer. Is anyone else having the same problems it is fine in Firefox. The helpdesk think it because of my add-ons Anyway please do have a look at the guest book and see what past guests have written and add your own comments. Also Trip Advisor is a good source of reviews on both the flats and the tours we do.
Flats in Luxor Guest Book

And still the Trip Advisor reports keep coming in

We have just returned from Egypt after staying at one of Jane & Mahmoods properties and I can give nothing but praise. We have been to Luxor many times and decided to have a change and wanted to stay on the west bank. We contacted Jane and arranged to stay at their Goubli property. The flats were great and very spacious, the pool is finished however the pool bar is yet to be furnished but the whole area is very private and there is a kitchen area on the ground floor with a fridge to put your water etc in whilst at the pool area.


The staff at the flats are brilliant and there is a member of staff at the flats 24/7, big Mohammed is a true gentleman and cannot do enough for you, Akhmed has a taxi and is very reliable and more than fair with his prices, also when you ask him to take you somewhere he takes you there and fetches you right back without stopping at every alabasta shop on the way(the luxor savvies will know what i mean!!!!)


We only booked one trip with Jane and it went like clockwork so I would have no problem recommending her trip service.


Having now spent time on the westbank I would find it hard to stay on the eastbank, the people are so much more friendly and we walked from the flat to the local shops(about 10 mins) a few times and didnt have a scrap of hassle. It was great going to the local shops and buying fruit and veg etc and you really see the difference in price for everything on the westbank, it was so much cheaper.


We fully intend to go back and stay with Jane and cannot wait for our next holiday

Xmas and New Year 2009 at Flats in Luxor

Remember last year where we had a Christmas Day traditional turkey dinner. Xmas Menu Cooked by the wonderful chef Ben Wilson of Benz, for all the guests at the flats. That was held at the Goubli flats. Every one had a great time and it was lovely the have all the generations enjoying themselves and even Mahmoud put on a paper hat.
We followed that with a party on New Year’s Eve with a whole roast sheep. Most of the guests had never seen a whole animal being roasted before. It was cooked by an Egyptian chef with the faithful Mohammed Garden and Little Mohammed helping out big time. Bit of a mistake there as we did not think to have a vegetarian option. Sorry won't do that again


Mahmoud and I are going to do even more this year. We have a lot of bookings over the period so now we have our chef on board we can do more food. Especially some vegetarian options. We are also going to have traditional Egyptian entertainment Arabic music, whirling dervish, belly dancer all are planned. I know it is only September but our bookings over Christmas are coming in already so we have decided to make sure those guests have a wonderful holiday.

Vacancies Xmas 2008

Well Christmas and New Year are getting pretty booked up but we still have vacancies and of course we can always find other landlords in the area

East Bank after a long let of three years our three bedroom flat Geb becomes free this November. Perfect for Luxor’s nightlife yet located down a quiet cul-de-sac. Photos are on the website. This is our only 3 bedroom flat on the East Bank as the other 2 flats are sold but also on the East Bank we have 2 one bedroom flats Seth and Anubis.

Al Gezera still has a couple of vacancies and if push comes to shove I will move out of my flat. Goubli is nearly full with just one vacancy now.

But the ace up our sleeve is the Arabesque House, located near Goubli, just a couple of minutes walk. The building has finished and the flats are being furnished, there is a one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom. Anyone staying at the Arabesque House has access to the Goubli swimming pool and other communal facilities.

2008/2009 Tour Prices

We can offer private guided tours in Luxor of up to three sites for $80 USD per person (minimum 2 adults). The price includes qualified guide, tickets and transport. Choose from the following sites

East Bank
Karnak Temple
Luxor Temple

West Bank

Valley of Kings
Tomb of Ay
Valley of Queens
Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahri
Assasif Tombs
Tomb of Pabasa
Mortuary Temple of Merenptah,
Mortuary Temple of Seti I,
Mortuary Temple of Ramses II (Ramasseum)
Mortuary Temple of Ramses III (Medinet Habu)
Workman’s Village at Deir el Medina
Tomb of Pashedu
Tombs of Roy and Shu Roy
Noble’s tombs of Neferronpet, Dhutmosi and Nefersekheru
Nobles Tombs of Ramose, Khaemhet, Userhet
Nobles Tombs of Benji, Userhet, Khonsu
Nobles Tombs of Sennefer and Rekhmire
Nobles Tombs of Meena and Nakht


Don’t forget our specialist tours:-
• Quiet Tour – where Inshallah you are the only tourist
• Grandfather, Father Son – Comparison of Mortuary Temples
• Kids Tour – dressing up or homework!
• Egyptian Housing from Pharaonic to today incl.Hassan Fathy

Non historical tours in Luxor at $20 USD per person
• Donkey Ride over the Ridge.
• Felucca Sunset Dinner Cruise,
• Camel Ride to the Christian Village.


We can also provide day trips to Cairo, Desert Trips, Middle Egypt, Aswan and Abu Simbel, Red Sea in fact anything in Egypt. Price on application.

Children under 6 are free and under 12 half price, students over 12 must in possession of an INTERNATIONAL Student Card

Communal Areas at Goubli

On the ground floor we have created a large communal area. There is a lounge where you can escape the rest of the family and relax. We have a library, please free free to leave any books and if you are in the middle of one we don't mind you taking it as long as you have left one in its place.

This is also where we have free WiFi available and we have even provided a desk for you to work at. Our staff will be delighted to serve you traditional Egyptian drinks of tea and coffee. Or you could smoke a shisha.

Lastly we have a wide screen satellite TV area for those important events and programs.


And who is sitting looking important, yes it is the Boss

Goubli the swimming pool photos at last

Yes at last I have got photos of the new pool at Goubli. I wanted to wait until we had all the pool furniture. We got really lucky with that and got a lot of stuff from the New Winter Palace hotel which is being demolished. We had it recovered and that took time. But I am really pleased with the material. The pool area covers all the the back of the property with a shower area and toilet block as well as snack bar and poolside bar.
We are planning to have cold drinks, sandwiches, chips, salads available. As well as crisps, sweets and ice cream. We have planted some shrubs, I asked them to get smelly ones like Jasmine so when they get established it will be really fragrant. But mainly it is an area for sun bathing. In the afternoon you do get shade but I think we will get some umbrellas to complete the picture.

This is the view from the balcony of Out, which is the first balcony floor. Brits would call it the 1st floor but Americans and Egyptians call it the 2nd floor. As you can see the balcony is a gorgeous place to relax on overlooking both the pool and the Nile in the distance. Surrounded by sugar cane fields and farm land yet conveniently close to the ferry and the Valley of Kings and other pharaonic sites. In fact you can see the temple of Hatshepsut from the flats.

Our first guests

Someone wrote on Trip Advisor about being one of first guests and I was looking back at some of those early people. A surprising number are still with us. I say surprising because in those early days we were just a little bit less organised than we are now. I can remember driving to the airport to meet a guest and telling the driver to come back really slowly as when I left the flat there were no windows in it!!!! Bedrooms had beds but that was all. Still Mahmoud fixed it, he always does.

Neil Berry from the UK was the first actual guest to stay at the flats. I am on LinkedIn and very recently we reconnected he wrote such a nice recommendation for the Flats

“Stayed in Flats owned and run by Jane in Luxor. Wonderful place to stay and hosts were very hospitable. My whole family had a wonderful time there and Jane is a helpful and caring host. A holiday with a difference and great value for money - my four year old had more fun in Luxor than EuroDisney!!”

Mike Williams from New Orleans was the 6th guest, I still use the fantastic recommendation he wrote on the Lonely Planet forums in my auto response to Tour Egypt enquiries

“The flat was beyond my expectations !!!!! This place was the best deal in all of Luxor for independent travellers.

You get 3 large bedrooms, large kitchen, large bath with hot water, large living room, and a balcony with the most beautiful view of the lush farms lands and the barren mountains of the "Valley of the Kings".
In the early morning you can watch the balloon flights over the "Valley of the Kings". From the roof top you can get a view of the Nile River. Also, it was just a short walk to the village and the ferry to the east side.
This place is definitely worth staying at. I highly recommend that any independent travellers going to Luxor check out this place.
Jane is very knowledgeable about Egypt, and her husband Mahmoud and his brother Ahmed are available for tours of the area and felucca rides.
The best thing is that it is located in a small village and there are no large hotels as on the East bank.”

Not only that but he was also a customer of Waleed Mohammed in Cairo and was instrumental in get us together. Waleed has been my man in Cairo since then, when Mike came here. Mike was affected by Hurricane Katrina and it was never racking when Waleed and I could not get hold of him for several months. I actually got an American friend to track him down at the hospital he worked in for me. Thank God he was OK but substantial damage was done to his home

My first Japanese guest Rina wrote a fantastic reference some 3 years later to another Japanese lady nervous of coming being independent. Can’t tell you what it said as it was in Japanese :)

Maggie Bowen, Ireland, also came in 2004 and she is another of my LinkedIn recommendation. As a marketing person she gave us some terrific ideas and was also a customer of Waleed.

“If like me you want to get off the beaten track and meet local people but enjoy a little luxury then stay with Jane and her family in Luxor. On the same bank as all the sites you can escape the madness that is Luxor and enjoy five star hospitality. I would recommend them to anyone!”

Next on the list has to come Michael Campbell-Smith who in the words of the Remington advert ‘like the place so much he bought one’ yes Michael is our man on the roof. An adopted member of the family now, he spends his winters in Luxor and was the first person to buy a flat from us.

Ann E is next, she stayed with us for several weeks and recently revisited with her entire family, Keith Jones came on his honeymoon and became such a good friend he supported Mahmoud application for a visitor’s visa to the UK, we stayed with them one night on our trip to the UK in 2006.

Paul T who just recently rebooked, Antonia who did a desert tour with us and recommended us to all in sundry, Richard S who introduced us to Mohammed Ismail and another one who is coming back this autumn. Bob E from Australia who spends at least a month here every spring. Prof Dee Wymer, USA, who came here after a dig in the delta and is a firm Facebook friend. Shareen my big buddy who has moved here. Jackie C who let us do a house swap 2 years later in 2006 and has rebooked yet again this year

All these from our first year of trading 2003/4, thanks to them and from others from subsequent years who have become special friends like my 1000th guests Heidi and group from Finland.

Another Recommendation on Trip Advisor

This new post on Trip Advisor deserves a bit of a plug as Mahmoud gets a mention. He organised the cruise, hot air balloon and trip to Abu Simbel for them. Flats in Luxor is not just about apartments and flats but tours as well. I know he is a bit elusive at times so here is a photo.

We were talking by the pool and they said they had a quote from one of the agents on the Corniche and could we match it. So Mahmoud made a few phone calls and low and behold we had an offer they could not refuse. They were most impressed how easy it was for us to organise this. As I always say if Mahmoud can't fix it, it can't be fixed. Anyway here is what they said, BTW my name is spelt wrong Ashkar lol

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294205-i9426-k2185548-Trip_report_staying_on_West_Bank-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html

Having been a lurker for over a year and just returned home; I wanted to write of our fab time in Egypt. I may go on a bit.


For those of you considering staying on the West Bank, do so. Like all villages they soon know who you are and you are left alone, apart from the offering of taxis to VOK when we were walking back to the flat.


We stayed at Flats in Luxor run by Jane Ashkar and her husband Mahmoud. Our choice of flat was the fourth floor of the original flats and the view from the balcony was to die for. Believe me, drinking a Pimms looking out at the Theban Hills morning or evening was something else. By the way Jane told us that in addition to your duty frees from England as long as you do not exit the airport building, you can buy a further 4 bottles per person upon arrival. Back to the balcony - watching the hot air balloons was fun particularly when my husband watched the balloon of myself and son. Following on from the discussion a while back about various balloon companies, we were booked through one company but ended up making up numbers in another companies balloon so I think they are all much of a muchness.


Apart from having booked a flight to Cairo to spend the day with a cousin and visiting the Giza and Sakkara pyramids plus the museum; we had arranged nothing else before we left. We are fairly independent types. Most of the tombs and temples we had an a/c car and the Kent Weeks book on Luxor treasures that I highly recommend but physically too heavy to take on the day.


We did pick up a boat and travelled up the river to visit Karnak picking up a caleche for the return journey and ending up that days sightseeing with breakfast at the Old Winter Palace.


We also had a lovely evening when Jane's husband Mahmoud (what a fixer) arranged for a service car (They must have known I wanted to have a ride) to take us down to the Nile where a launch took us across to our felucca and ending up with a wonderful Egyptian meal on board.


Let me see what else did we get up to. Oh yes, Jane and Mahmoud arranged for us to experience a three day cruise...request of son...and we had a relaxing!! time travelling down to Aswan on the Solaris. No complaints there, great boat, food hot,service friendly and courteous, rooms clean and a mini balcony. Joined the convoy down to Abu Simbel and the time flew by and didn't take long. AS is a wondrous place.


Our first day we took a donkey ride up into the hills behind Hatshepsut's temple. The views were superb and the chance of looking down on the temple scary but wonderful.


Baksheesh and hassle. You don't get it in the village but what we did experience...at sites and the Corniche...my advice is to don't get uptight about it. We smiled but we were firm and there were no hard feelings on either side with the exchanges ending in an enjoy your holiday message.


We didn't experience any stomach problems, thank goodness and took basic precautions ie antisceptic handwash.


I took along the suggested pencils, pens, sweets and notebooks and once I overcame my reticence of physically handing them out; they were much appreciated from helpful temple guardians when I had no small notes to security guards, from the smiley woman in our local, small room supermarket to the village children. I wished I'd started handing them out earlier.


I had arrived with a list of recommended restaurants but we ended up going across to the East Bank twice in two weeks...we found there was no need. There is a burgeoning of small hotels with restaurants on the West Bank. We laughed our way through an evening at Tutankhamun. We ended up with a table groaning under the weight of the food the owner wanted us to try. The view is gorgeous too. The Nile Valley has a great roof top restaurant where the views are astounding - over the shoulder there was Luxor Temple lit up. There is a lane about half way up the village that leads to El Nakhil..again a great rooftop restaurant where the waiter hurried to set up the fan behind me...I don't do heat particularly well. El Fayrouz is fairly new and they were serving meals in their luscious garden. We found this place the cheapest. A copious breakfast for two came to £3 sterling total. And a two course meal with drinks for three came to £14.80.


I did say this may be a long report but I hope it is of some help to someone as all of your contributions have been to me.


Signing off with many thanks to all.


Maclean family

Actually changing the subject for a second the photo was taken by my mate D and she played about with it in photo shop as a birthday present for me. Do you know who's tomb this really is?

Flats in Luxor announces its 1000th tour booking, Finland to Egypt for the 4th year running

Welcome back to Heidi, Arja, Hans, Tuija and Miia from Finland. our 1000th booking at Flats in Luxor, Egypt. Established in 2003 Flats in Luxor now has 1000 satisfied clients from all over the world who have used its accommodation or gone on its tours.

Luxor, Egypt (PRWEB) August 5, 2008 -- Flats in Luxor welcomes its 1000th tourist since its formation in 2003

The 1000th guests are Heidi, Arja, Hans, Tuija and Miia from Finland, who have booked tours of Luxor for the 4th year running. As members of the Finish Egyptology Society their requirements for tours are not run of the mill.

They said 'We found Jane through the blog she writes in Tour Egypt. It was very easy to contact her on her website www.flatsinluxor.co.uk and book trips by internet.

The beauty of her, that you can choose yourself the sites you want to see and a schedule it as well. And there are a lot of sites from which to choose from.

Jane makes you feel welcome and her humour is over the top! But she´s also a true professional in what she do. You get tours so intensive and individual, and no one explains the sites like her.

We respect and rely on her and when we get home to Finland, we miss her a lot every time. But we can always comfort ourselves, that we will see her again next year.'

They are typical of the kind of guests that use the services of Flats in Luxor for either tours, accommodation or both, they want to get away from the standard offering, be more independent, have a more in depth look at the history and get underneath the surface of the Egyptian culture. Jane Akshar of Flats in Luxor was delighted to oblige and looks forward to welcoming her favourite Finns back to Luxor.

Flats in Luxor was founded in 2003 by Jane Akshar and Mahmoud Jahlan, their mission to provide high quality flats or apartments for the tourist market and to enable them to enjoy a unique and individual tour of this fascinating and historic country.

Having rented a flat in Luxor, Egypt themselves and been disappointed by the standards of cleanliness and lack of facilities they perceived a demand for Western standard flats in Luxor. For both those guests and those staying in hotels they also provide guided tours and all aspects of holidaying in Egypt.

Jane was a computer specialist by background and an Egyptologist of 40 years. She utilised her IT contacts to set up a professional website with availability calendar and booking database. Jane says 'I was over the moon when I found the domain name FlatsinLuxor was available. However I wished I had realised that Americans have no idea what a flat is. They would call it an apartment and being as our market is international this often leads to confusion.'

Although Jane has plenty of IT, sales and marketing experience she had never worked in tourism before. That was Mahmoud's side of the business, as a local he had worked with tourists in Luxor since he was young, knew everything there was to know and had all the contacts. The internet was an ideal medium for their business and utilising her Egyptology expertise Jane built up a dedicated following in the online Egyptology community which she used to publicise their business.

Jane goes on 'Mahmoud taught me everything about tourist, tourism and renting flats. We made a few mistakes at the beginning, the flats today are not the same as those early days and the swimming pool came later but everyone was supportive of the business. We still have repeat bookings from those early guests and we are in touch with many of them.

Heidi and her party are typical of our guests, coming back year after year and recommending friends. We have a Belgium group who come with their friends and family and rent several flats, a retired Australian couple who come every spring for month, a British man, keen Egyptologiust, who spends his winters here and finally an American working in Cairo who has sent dozens of his colleagues here as well as staying three times himself. They are all like family.'

The first business success was becoming part of Tour Egypt which is the premier tourism website about Egypt. That relationship is as strong as ever and Jane writes a blog www.luxornews.net on the Tour Egypt website with over 3,500 unique visitors a day.

Then after petitioning by many of their satisfied guests the Lonely Planet inspected the flats and included it in their guide book, the Rough Guide followed and most recently Responsible Travel approved them as Luxor's only 'Green' accommodation. They feature regularly in Trip Advisor both for accommodation and tours.

Now some 5 years later their company Flats in Luxor Group, which is registered in Egypt, have 4 apartment blocks with 21 flats some in development, some sold but the majority are available for holiday rentals. Their tours which include the more remote places in Egypt like Amarna, safaris in the Western desert, are exciting and unusual. They even offer sailing holidays on traditional feluccas. www.sailthenile.com

Mahmoud says 'To have reached 1000 guests is an important stage in our business. But we have even more plans for the future; especially green and eco friendly offerings, it is an exciting time for us.'

Property in Luxor Egypt

Uncertain about buying Egypt, see the two articles below. I think that first article is really fair but it fails to take account of the motivation behind a lot of sales. Retirement properties. The second article should reassure those looking at these.

With pension values falling, Westerners are facing an increasingly dubious future. Their pensions, if they have one, are minuscule and certainly not enough to maintain a decent standard of living or any living at all in some case. But because of the low cost of living in Egypt even the most cash strapped pensioner can live like a Pharaoh on a very modest pension. Buy your apartment or flat and never have to worry about rent again and live off your UK pension, yes it is possible here. After all there are no heating costs, it is sunny all year round. Food costs are approx 1/10 those of the UK. Also you can pass on your property with no tax, tempted, you should be.

The two article do reassure people looking to invest in Egypt that their capital value is set to rise. Which when you are facing an increasingly uncertain old age is very reassuring. The clincher is that you can pass everything on to your children, no tax!!!!

As you know we have property for sale and all is on private land where we can give you freehold and proper contracts and papers. Flats in Luxor has an international reputation for honesty and we can give you references from satisfied customers. We have a variety of properties some with swimming pools, so please get in touch and have a secure retirement.

Another article on why you should buy in Egypt

Why buy real estate in Egypt

Egypt may seem like an exceptionally unusual choice as a location in which to invest in real estate sure, its a great vacation location with its 7,000 years of history, its near perfect year round climate, stunning beaches and beautiful divingbut what does it have to offer someone wanting to invest in real estate as a commodity?

The answer is Egypt is actually fast moving from being an emerging real estate market place to a well established one because the levels of foreign direct investment into the real estate sector have increased based on some excellent fundamentals.

For example, Egypt is now considered to be a politically stable country and one that is absolutely pro-western, meaning that an investor can be confident in the political stability, will and vision of the nation. Next up, the economy in Egypt is going from strength to strength. According to The Economist magazine GDP grew by 5% in 2005, almost 7% in 2006 and is on target for over 7% growth in 2007.

A strong economy gives confidence to investors as well but it also means local people have more buying power which creates the perfect environment for house prices to rise in value and an investors real estate assets to appreciate.

Aside from these excellent foundations on which an investor can build confidence there are some travel and tourism angles you might like to consider when thinking about whether Egypt is worth a closer look as a place to invest your hard earned dollars into immovable property.

First up theres excellent statistical news and data from the World Travel and Tourism Council, they say Egypt is on track for enjoying 21.4 billion US dollars worth of economic activity from the tourism market in 2007 and that the nations travel and tourism growth rate is expected to hit almost 8% this year before averaging around 5 and a half % per annum until 2017.

Clearly there will be massive rental demand for accommodation that a property investor who buys well located real estate can benefit from. Boosting this demand is Egypts exceptional climate and the fact the nation is now cheaply and swiftly accessible from Europe and the UK thanks to cheap flight operators.

Finally, if you want more reasons why to buy real estate in Egypt think about the fact there are no capital gains or death/inheritance taxes in Egypt and the government has now made it easy and safe for foreign buyers to own a home or multiple real estate assets in Egypt and surely you have enough evidence to support taking a closer look at the Egyptian property market.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about property investment worldwide,

Now is the time to buy property in Egypt according to analysts

Egyptian Property: Too Good to be True or Too Good to Miss?

The recent media reports relating to the real estate market in Egypt paint a picture that would make anyone think twice about buying property anywhere else. Even the Prime Minister of Egypt believes that the construction industry has just witnessed a 15% expansion. But are all these tall tales about the success of the Egyptian property market too good to be true, or do they illustrate a picture of an investment asset that really is too good to miss?

The thing with Egypt is that it is an undeniably amazing country in terms of its travel and tourism appeal. It’s not like the authorities, tour operators or property professionals have got to flog a semi-decent location like Bulgaria is it?! Egypt has year round sunshine, it has the Red Sea, it has incredible beaches, it has the pyramids, Cairo, Alexandria, Tutankhamen – I mean, it has it all in abundance! And what’s more, the tourism industry is truly thriving…up 20% in 2007 on 2006 levels, set to increase by about 7% on average a year for the next ten years, and being targeting for inward investment by the government seeking to stabilise and diversify its economy.

So, the fact that the entire fledgling real estate industry is built on tourism makes property in Egypt initially seem like a no lose commodity. Surely as tourism numbers rise and rise and rise and all these amazing developments in all these amazing resorts are built and sold, so those who buy will be able to let to the tourists coming in and profit right? Well, yes…and no. What about all the hotels in Egypt? And all the hotels that are being built in Egypt? And the fact that tourists still prefer hotels with all their facilities and conveniences to self-catering? Aye, there’s the rub, not every tourist visiting Egypt is going to want to rent a fly-to-let investment property belonging to someone from the UK who has invested their life savings into what is being oversold as an amazing investment asset ‘guaranteed to double your money, honest.’

Sigh…

Sorry, we got carried away – it’s just that we despair when we see developers advertising properties for sale in untried and untested emerging markets with ludicrous promises about guaranteed rental yields, guaranteed capital appreciation and guaranteed returns. Yes Egypt is potentially a great place to invest, yes there are amazing fundamentals supporting the development of the nation economically speaking…but come on, it’s not a sure bet. Please, proceed with caution and look at any investment opportunity with just a little suspicion if you want to do the best for your money.

Kids Tours and Another Recommendation

Spotted this very nice recommendation from some past guests. They work at a school down in Cairo and are talking about using me for school trips which should be fun.

Here, we recommend Jane Akshar, whose teenage daughter often accompanies the tour when there are kids involved. She also explains that, "With kids on a tour, we sometimes act out, dressing up in galabeyas and some cheap beads, and pretend to be priests and pharaohs".

Want to know more about us

Flats in Luxor was founded in 2003 when I moved to Egypt. I first got interested in Egypt when I was 9 years old, my grandmother gave me a book to read on Tutankhamun and I was hooked. When I received some book tokens for my 10th birthday I got the book and never looked back. I first visited Egypt in 1979. having read every book in the library I thought I knew it all. I found I knew nothing, in fact as time has gone by and I realise just how much there is to know I realise my percentage goes down and down :)

I did evening classes with the University of London, 3 year, 2 year and 5 year courses and grew to love it even more. I did more visits and found the modern Egypt just as interesting and fascinating.

Through various times in my life Egypt has been the thread holding it together and frankly it is no surprise that I have ended up moving here. After all I started talking about that when I was in my teens. My husband Mahmoud Jahlan was the catalyst to making me move here and I am forever grateful to him for this.

If you want to know more about me search on the web for Jane Akshar and my Linked In profile details my business career.

Want to know more about the Flats, again search but beware of imitators. Lots of people have used the 'flats in Luxor' name but nobody else is in the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Trip Advisor, Daily Telegraph, Responsible Travel, All the Experts, Echo, Tour Egypt, Luxor News, Egyptology News, Egypt Mad. We are the original Flats in Luxor, the first tourist standard in Luxor, the first to go Green and the first to make the guide books

Flats in Luxor is on Facebook

I have added a Flats in Luxor company page to Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flats-in-Luxor/23829117620 so if you use Facebook you might want to become a fan.

Story about us

Really nice article about our Flats in Luxor. http://www.asap.co.uk/news/a-green-vacation-in-egypt-5633201.html. The first Flats in Luxor to offer tourist standard accommodation the first Flats in Luxor with a swimming pool, the first Flats in Luxor o go Green.

We have also been in contact with another member of Responsible Travel in Egypt. They offer horse riding trips near Cairo. It is a really exciting new aspect to our business.

We are now recommended by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Tour Egypt, Responsible Travel, Trip Advisor.

Excited, you betcha

Flats in Luxor goes Green

Ever since I went on holiday to Japan in 2007 and booked through Responsible Travel I have been looking at turning our business GREEN. After months working with Responsible Travel who have been most helpful we have been officially recognised as the first and only GREEN tourism business in Luxor.

We had to do a number things in order to met the criteria but many of the conditions we were already doing. Ever since the beginning of our business 5 years ago I have recommended that tourists keep the money in the local economy.

I am so excited about this new aspect to our business

Our page on Responsible Travel

Tiling Finished at the Swimming Pool

We had a big delay with this next to last stage for two reasons. One we had problems getting the tiles. But the more serious one was that when they did the test fill there was a leak. This meant that the pool had to be dug out all the way round to find where the concrete was leaking. An absolute nightmare. After doing all this they found no leak and it appears that the excess water had come from the irrigation next door. So all that effort and time was wasted.

The two photos show the pool and the boys standing on the bar stools give you an idea of scale.

The big round pool is for kids and the large pool has three levels which you can see by the different floor decoration. Behind the boys they have just dug out where the kitchen/bar is going to be. BTW the boys are Garden Mohammed, Hajaj and Ahmed.

Swimming Pool at Goubli nearly finished

It is so exciting, the pool has not turned out like I expected but never mind. The middle circle which I expected to be a jacuzzi is a kids pool, the jacuzzi is going to be separate. The pool is much bigger and see the bar stools. Tiling next week :)

New One Bedroom Flats on the East Bank

We have just developed the ground floor of our East Bank property into 2 one bedroom flats. Our East Bank property is down a cul de sac in the heart of the tourist area, just opposite the Isis hotel.
The two flats consist of a bedroom with a/c, shower room and kitchen/ lounge.

Flats in Luxor - Goubli Swimming Pool

Yes good news we have started digging the swimming pool at Goubli, it will be a while before it is finished but the bulldozer is on site now. We had to wait until the crops on the land around us had been harvested so we could go across their land to get to the back of the property. The plan is to have a kidney shaped pool with jacuzzi.

These apartments are available for both holiday and long term rental as well as sale. We can also provide management services should you wish to buy as a holiday flat investment.

Recommended by Trip Advisor

A couple of terriifc threads recommending the Flats and me

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294205-i9426-k1908316-Jane_Akshar_flatsinluxor-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294205-i9426-k1834840-Jane_Akshar_Best_Guide_in_Luxor_IMO-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html

2008/2009 Prices

We are pleased to announce we are going to hold our 2007/2008 prices for the flats at £165 GBP ($330 USD) per week low season and £220 GBP ($440 USD) high season. Low season is 1st May 2008 until 30th November 2008 and High season is 1st December 2008 until 30th April 2009.

Our minimum booking period remains 3 days however we will take a shorter booking period as long as you are prepared to pay for the full three days :)

Tours will also be held at £30 GBP ($60 USD per person until November. We have heard that ticket prices are going up then by 25% so will be reviewing tour prices as soon as we know.

Feedback about kids tours

Lovely comments about my tours

http://scotsabroad.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/the-original-king-tuts-place/

We also seemed to be very lucky being in the right place at the right time, as we were often alone at major sites, and we met a wonderful family, the Bishops, who were prepared to take the risk and come with us on a tour Shona had cleverly arranged with a rather eccentric (but brilliant) Englishwoman called Jane Akshar living in Luxor.

This is Jane Akshar who offers accommodation, tours and cruises in Luxor. Shona found her website while in Cairo and contacted her before leaving for Luxor. Jane said she would provide a tour that included a serial killer and some dressing up! We encouraged another family staying at our hotel to join us. John and Melanie have three lovely boys who were brilliant with Cairo and Lucas. Thank you Joe, Luke and Daniel Bishop. John seems to be quite famous back home. Click on his name in the Blogroll to find out for yourself (he is touring his comedy show in Scotland next month). Great fella, great family and great company. Cairo made us laugh the day before, having been told about the tour and the content, by asking us if we were finding out about the ‘breakfast killer’ that day. The serial killer turned out to be Ay, who bumped off a few on his way to the throne including, according to Jane, Tut, and we visited his tomb (#23) in a secluded part of the Western Valley. We were the only people inside - we even had to get the key holder to come up and open it for us. Incredible. We visited another couple of tombs (Roy and Shuroy) and the boys got to go into some catacombs carved in the rocks, disturbing bats and getting a glimpse of ancient mummified bodies lying side by side. Then it was on to the Temple of Seti the 1st and a bizarre enactment of something silly. Great fun. I think the school will be using Jane’s services in the future when we send groups down to Luxor. She certainly brought things to life and was full-on for the whole morning.

Stay connected at Flats in Luxor free WiFi

At both the original Flats in Luxor block Al Gezera and the new block Goubli we offer free access to the internet.

Apartments and Property for Sale from Flats in Luxor

Investors will have noticed the rash of developments in Luxor and this will give you an idea of how advantageous it is to buy a holiday property in Luxor. Both national and regional government are positively encouraging development of the area and it is a very exciting place to invest your money. Capital growth is assured. Land prices are sky rocketing and those buying property in Luxor now will be able to sit back and watch their investment grow.

We aim to provide small intimate developments but with all the facilities of a major complex. Peace and quiet and away from the crowds. None of our buildings have more than 7 units and rather than buying off plan our properties are already completed and available for inspection. Dealing with our registered Egyptian company Flats in Luxor Group you can be assured that investment is safe. All our property is built on private land so no problems about land ownership. You can buy with confidence from Flats in Luxor.

We have property in Luxor on both the East and West Bank and every apartment has the same loving attention to detail, Mahmoud has very high standards and nothing is skimped and shoddily finished. We offer you a quality flat in Luxor in a small development direct from us, Jane Akshar and Mahmoud Jahlan. No big anonymous companies to deal with when you buy from us. We are always available personally to advise you and to look after the property should you not be in residence. Our trusted and reliable staff can help you with errands and improvements. One of our owners wanted an unusual painting job done on his flat so we got our painter to give him a star studded ceiling. Different but that is our specialisation, individual attention for our owners.

Apartments are for sale at: East Bank, Al Gezera, Goubli and the Arabesque house. We also have plots of land where we could build you a dream villa in Luxor. Let us show you around and you can see for yourself a property in Luxor should come from Flats in Luxor, the original and best apartments in Luxor.

Flats in Luxor Map

Trying to make up your mind which Flats in Luxor to choose, this map will help.

Now Flats in Luxor has 3 blocks on the West Bank. the original Flats in Luxor are on the edge of Al Gezera village and and the new Flats in luxor are on the Goubli road. Two styles of building Arabesque, traditional Islamic style 2/3 bedroom flats with a garden and roof terrace. Goubli is super luxury and will have swimming pool, jacuzzi, roof top resturant, lift, shop, library, WiFi internet and many more.

Kid's Tours

We just had a load of fun with a big kids tour. I had to make up some new roles so we had

Mr and Mrs pharaoh
Hittite Princess
Royal Scribe
Keeper of the Royal Zoo & Leopard
General
300 handmaidens
Priest of Anubis

what I try and do is act out scenes from tombs and temples and if I get enough time with a family we will see everything we have acted out over a few days.

This time it was two families and as you can see even Dads join in and make lovely Royal Handmaiden!


But sometimes the blushing bride or Hittite princess can hide her/his beauty lol however we always seem to have fun

WiFi at Flats in Luxor

Flats in Luxor Group are happy to announce the installation of WiFi at their new building on Luxor's West Bank.

Yes that's right our Goubli flats now have WiFi and our chef is installed and cooking. Next on the agenda is the swimming pool which we expect to start really soon.

BTW Quad Bikes can now be hired for a unique desert trip

Flats in Luxor recommended in the Daily Telegraph

Nice mention by one of guests Drusilla Beyfus http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2008/02/07/sm_activitynile.xml&DCMP=ILC-traffdrv07053100

A subsequent visit with Jane Akshar, an independent tour guide, took me into the smaller, off-the-beaten-track but none the less fascinating tombs of Ay in the western Valley of the Kings followed by the tombs of the nobles Roy and Shu Roy. They were wonderfully free of people like us.