Christmas Holidays in Luxor 2009 - Closures...there are none

Luxor does not close anything for 25th December, in fact as the locals are a mixture of Muslim and Coptic Christians there is no local that celebrates anything on that day. Coptic Christians follow the old calender (also known as the Julian or Coptic calender) and celebrate Christmas 13 days later than the West which uses the Gregorian calender. Muslims whilst they revere Jesus as a prophet do not celebrate his birthday, in fact birthday celebrations are not common full stop. So there is nothing happening on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day except at tourist establishments. Hotels and restaurants seeing the demand have started offering gala dinners to their guests and decorating the buildings but do not expect anything more than that.

New Year is likewise, it is not a local holiday as the Muslim and Coptic new years fall on different dates and even then there is no tradition of celebrations. So only expect celebrations in tourist establishments.

There is no effect on site openings, indeed the sites never shut not even for Eid, the only event that does effect the sites is closing times during Ramadan. Opening times remain the same.

How to travel by train in Egypt | Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria

One of my favourite websites, everything you wanted to know about train travel but were afraid to ask!!How to travel by train in Egypt | Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria

Nubian Village New Photos

I have put a load of photos up on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=23829117620#/album.php?aid=116424&id=23829117620

A review of our services

I just had this terrific review sent to me, we had this lovely family stay who said they would do a review on Trip Advisor and the youngest lad was so articulate I suggested he write it. Bless him he did a fantastic job and he is only 11

Report on Flats in Luxor

I have recently journeyed to Egypt with my family, for much of all of our lives we had wished to see the great wonders of the country. I had always dreamt of seeing the Luxor Necropolis and delving into the tombs, and of course, going to Giza to see the Pyramids. All of these things, and many more were made exceedingly easy and very possible with the enormous help of Jane and Mahmoud Akshar. They are a kind and engaging Anglo-Egyptian couple with a great intention for you to experience not only the fantastic sights in Egypt but also the culture and present day villages. They have a range of things you can do on their curriculum all around the West Bank; Donkey and Camel Rides up the ridge at The Valley of the Kings and to the Christian Village respectively, trips to the Valley of the Queens which includes seeing Habu Temple and the temple of Merenptah, Felucca rides down the Nile and even trips up to Cairo to see the Giza Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum and down to Aswan to see Ramses II temple at Abu Simbel. All of these trips, and many more, are available to you if you choose to stay with Flats in Luxor. Jane and Mahmoud provide a selection of guides that are local and very knowledgeable. They are kind and courteous and always arrive on the dot ready to take you on any of your trips. They also employ kind, local drivers that are always on time and can take you to any place at any time. The money you pay to Jane and Mahmoud supports the local community and the people within it. Jane or indeed Mahmoud are both reliable sources of information and always put you first so that you, the tourist, can have an enjoyable holiday.

Me and my family stayed in the Al Gezira Flats in Luxor. It was very convenient as me and my family have always wanted, where ever we go, to soak up the community and culture and so this choice of accommodation was a gift to us as you could never experience anything like the true and modern Egypt on a Nile cruise. If you just walked down the roads you would meet a vibrant array of shops providing fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk and anything you would want to self-cater. Also there are quite a few restaurants that present rich and very tasty food. You are also only a five minutes walk from the beautiful waters of the elegant River Nile and you are able to catch a motorboat or ferry over to the East Bank of Luxor.

The accommodation itself is delightful with cool air-conditioned bedrooms with soft beds, and balconies for spectacular views across the West Bank. There is also a nice pool outside that is very useful for cooling down and relaxing. All of these components, and with the fantastic help of Jane and Mahmoud Akshar contributed to an extremely fabulous holiday. And I assure you that if you want to enjoy yourself to the full and be amazed by the glorious sights go to Egypt and stay with Jane and Mahmoud Akshar in Flats in Luxor

Lewis Grace

Age 11

YouTube - On the bank of the Nile (6th Day 2009)

A future guest while researching on Flats in Luxor spotted this video, the Goubli building appreas at 6:36

Flats in Luxor accepts PayPal deposits

Up until recently Flats in Luxor have asked British clients for a payment direct into my bank account and overseas for their credit cards. Well I decided to upgrade my PayPal account so now Flats in Luxor can offer secure payment of deposits via PayPal. We still require the balance paid in cash on arrival especially as I have to pay commission on PayPal

Tonight I had my first payment and it worked really well, the client made the payment within 10 minutes so it was obviously easy.

Christmas and New Year 2009 in Luxor

Well I knew it was going to be busy in Luxor this Christmas when I got my first booking Christmas 2008 a whole year early. But here I am in August nearly fully booked, just as well Mahmoud keeps building. Two of the new villas are booked and we have not finished building them. I have two flats free in the Arabesque, one at Al Gezera, 2 one bedrooms on the East bank and 2 more villas and that is all.

However please don't think that means you cannot have Christmas in Luxor, we still have all our friends that we have used in the past as overflow. I must admit I never thought we would still need overflow with 20 flats and 5 villas so thank you to every that has booked with Flats in Luxor and making us a success. I must admit after a very quiet summer a busy Christmas will be a big help

Cost cutting by Luxor Tour Agents

Just checking the prices of tours on the Corniche in Luxor and noticed that the major Luxor companies have reduced the number of ticketed sites from 3 to 2. Like cutting the size of the chocolate bar and keeping the price the same.

I am pleased to sat Flats in Luxor group still offers a PRIVATE tour of up to 3 sites, English speaking guide, tickets, a/c transport and LUNCH for only $80 USD a head. We also give half priced tours for student card holders as well as children.

Luxor holiday apartments, Egypt. World's best responsible & ecotourism holidays

Another year with Responsible Travel.

We have just been renewed on very favourable terms for another year. Apparently our conversion rate is very good and I have been a good girl and done my admin properly :) We look forward to another year with them and thank all our guests who came through them.

Luxor holiday apartments, Egypt. World's best responsible & ecotourism holidays

Villas in Luxor

We have had our hand forced and gone ahead with the Nubian Eco Village. We were leaving the land with crops but a new mains gas pipeline is being installed.


Once installed then you are not allowed to build over it so we quickly had to make a move. First we walled the land so that any work was secure.


We then got some builders from Edfu to make domed villas. We had hoped to build in mud brick but were informed that as the land was in the cultivation and with the problem of rising water this was not possible. This made perfect sense from what I have seen at the Hassan Fathy village. Where rising water is attacking the mudbrick and even installation of damp proof course and non mud foundations has not halted the rot. Although it was a disappointment as I wanted the entire construction to be of mud brick.


So if we could not use traditional materials we wanted at least the traditional style so the builder who has wide experience suggested all sorts of ideas and concepts. We are determined to use mud brick in the finish.


The decorative style of red and white bricks was a great idea and we approved that. They build the arch separately and then incorporate it into the structure. We are having domes as this keeps the building cool. He also has come up with other ideas.


Furniture is being incorporated, shelves in the bathrooms, bed platforms, cupboards all sorts are actually being built into the fabric of the building. It is really clever as well as being practical and money saving. Wood is expensive in Egypt


As we have plenty of large 3 bedroom units these villas are going to be semi detached one and two bedroom units. As ever Mahmoud is cracking on and being as we are almost fully booked for Christmas we are aiming at finishing them in time for the winter season.


Building work has really progressed and I think the graceful arches and decorative brick work are lovely. We are only doing 4 units at present and the land behind them will be left to grow vegetables. These units like all our units are available for rent or sale. Property in Luxor is really growing and the governor encourages tourism developments. The area is very popular as it is privately owned with land registry, views across the fields to the Nile and to the hills to the temple of Hatshepsut. Away from the antiquities prohibited development area and the governor has no plans for redevelopment in this area.


With our Goubli building next door with its free WiFI, communal areas, swimming pool and restaurant these units have all the conveniences as well

Jane Akshar aka Jane Ashkar

I know it is all my fault, fancy marrying a man with such an difficult name. Actually it could be a lot worse. When my late husband Ayman Akshar died I decided to keep his name as it was also the name of my daughter. Unfortunately lots of people spell it wrong Ashkar. I noticed tonight loads of entries on the net with the wrong spelling

But when I remarried my husband has this amazing name and what makes it worse his father uses two versions so I could have been Mrs Jane Mahmoud Al Azeb Abedallell Omar or Mrs Jane Mahmoud Jahlan Abedallell Omar

Doesn't Akshar suddenly seem easy

ATM on the West Bank

We have one ATM on the West Bank, it has not been there long but it is very popular. This funny photo was taken in the late afternoon with the sun shining directly on the screen. Our driver was trying to use a cushion to shade the screen, it was really difficult to see anything but we did manage in the end.

September Special Offers on Egyptian Holidays

Get the second week for half price when you book a two week holiday with Flats in Luxor during September.

Yes that’s right your second week is half price. A superb family holiday in our luxurious apartments with swimming pool, free internet and in-house restaurant.

Luxor is a wonderful place to learn about history, see the local sites and soak up some sun. Interested contact us info@flatsinluxor.co.uk quoting 0909offer.

Daily Telegraph recommends Flats in Luxor

We are mentioned in this Daily Telegraph travel article Activity breaks: death on the Nile - Telegraph

Press Releases from Flats in Luxor

These are all the press releases we have issued so far.

Exotic Arabesque House
Multi Lingual Website for Flats in Luxor
1000 bookings
Flats in Luxor goes Green
New Tours from Flats in Luxor
Property sales from Flats in Luxor
Flats in Luxor and Sail the Nile Merge

I have used PRWeb for all these releases and found them excellent. Cost effective and they get results. In fact I actually wrote to them back in July 2008 after receiving a personal telelphone call from the MD with advice and helpful tips.

"Mario Bonilla exemplifies 7* customer service, caring not just about the big corporate but the little guy as well. I am a small operation in a third world country and he made me feel like the President of General Motors. I got an unsolicited telephone call giving me advice about my press release and another personal call when I emailed with an issue with the content of my release. The advice was pertinent to the size of my operation and my abilities. I really felt I had a friend at the end of the phone. When you consider I have only released 4 press releases (so far) you have to be impressed. Has he bought my customer loyalty, you betcha."

The Boston Globe recommends Flats in Luxor

Nice write up in the Boston Globe about Flats in Luxor

Wonders and warmth greet visitors to Luxor - The Boston Globe

Exotic Arabesque House Opens in Luxor, Full of Eastern Promise and Western Comfort

Exotic Arabesque House Opens in Luxor, Full of Eastern Promise and Western Comfort

Video of Goubli flats and our new development - the Nubian village

I just recently had a disaster when my camera stopped working for no apparent reason. Of course out here in Luxor getting a repair is nigh on impossible. There are times I wished I lived in Cairo. But my husband has kindly swapped mobiles with me, his was all singing and dancing with video and camera and mine just took calls and messages so I have done rather well out of it. It is taking ages to learn how to use it. Today was my first time trying the video. I took some of our new development the Nubian village and several of the Goubli building and two of the flats.

Just a short clip showing the new village starting life





The first is the outside and reception, with Adham in a starring role. He is one of our staff and was busy cleanign when I arrived.



The next is a detailed shot of the Mut flat and the swimming pool



Lastly a short clip of the next door Neith flat as it is a mirror image but the view is different, the Theban Hills

Overflow

Well as you have seen we have loads and loads of flats now, 20 in total so it is unlikely that we cannot provide you with accommodation but not impossible. So at really busy times like Christmas we pass business on to other landlords in the area who have flats to rent. You would still be dealt with by us under the Flats in Luxor banner and we are choosey about which flats we use. But it does mean you would always be able to find an apartment in Luxor. Search under overflow to see the various ones we have used.

Moustapha's Flat

This a new flat in our portfolio, newly completed and to a very high standard. It is situated near to the resturant Africa on the West Bank and has views of Luxor temple.

Hussein's Flat

A new addition to out portfolio. Hussein's flat is situated close to the main cross roads on the West Bank. It has an A/C bedroom and spacious lounge. Although part of the family house it does have it's own front door. Ideal for guests wanting to spend more time with local families and to brush up on their Arabic.

Exciting news for 2007 winter season, more flats at Al Gezera

Flats in Luxor have just negotiated an exclusive deal with our next door neighbour at Al Gezera to rent out his flats. The building is next to ours and is a perfectly compliment to our existing offering. The photography above shows the entrance to the original Flats in Luxor Al Gezera block on the left and this new wing straight ahead. Could not be closer.

There are three flats, Thoth, Amun and Ptah, with lovely views and balconies. The flats consist of three large double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and a large lounge/dining room.

The well established garden adjoins our building and we will be developing that into a shady seating area with shisha. And of course there will be access to the swimming pool and our other communal facilities.

As the Al Gezera flats are fully booked for a lot of the winter months, especially Christmas, I know this will be welcome news for some disappointed people.

Our new Arabesque House

The latest building from Flats in Luxor available for sale and rent.

Buying Land in Egypt

Business Feed Article | Business | guardian.co.uklots of encouragement from the Egyptian government towards foreign property investors

2010 bookings are racking up

Wow it is hard to believe after just 6 years now we are consistently getting bookings months in advance. Today I took a March 2010 booking from be my favourite Finns 5 years running with us now. We have loads of Christmas bookings and a complete tour booking January.

Although we love these advanced bookings we still have plenty of room for last minute ones as well. Credit crunch holidays are a speciality as our summer season price is $50 for a three bedroom flat, yes that’s right less than $10 dollars a person per night.

Baksheesh or tipping, some guidelines

In the West, we call it "tipping" or "service." But those words don't fully express the breadth of flexibility and purpose of the practice known as "baksheesh." Egypt appears to run on baksheesh and the protocol of the practice becomes evident quite quickly once in the country.

Basically, there are three kinds of baksheesh. The first is baksheesh as "alms giving." One of the 5 tenants of Islam is the giving of alms to the poor. The giver is made more holy by the action.

The second type is baksheesh as "for services rendered." This is the closest to the western tipping practices. Except it goes further. There are people at the airport whose only job appears to be opening doors. Of course, they require baksheesh. And every bathroom has an attendant, who expects a little for keeping the place clean (supposedly). One is continuously passing out a few pounds here and a few there. Guides and drivers use it as feedback and like others their basic pay only covers simple food.

The third kind of baksheesh is "for the granting of favours." Want to see what's in the tomb which is posted as closed? A few pounds will see a key miraculously produced. Want to see an excellent photo location? Want to see a forbidden mummy? The amazing thing is that you don't even need to ask for the services. Upon identifying a mark, even the museum guards will follow you around and provide services and grant favours. Interestingly, after getting over the initial adverse reaction to the practice, it becomes expected and even pleasurable.

Yes, I know it is strange but we pay it too. Everyone seems to expect it, though even I was surprised when Mahmoud paid the Doctor a hefty baksheesh when I was ill recently.


Toilet money 1LE
Small service 5 – 20LE
Medium Service 20 – 50Le
Big Service 100Le upwards

The biggest tip one of my drivers got was $1,500 USD, the lady concerned sent it after she returned home as she wanted to help him send his child to a good school

Please be generous, many rely on these tips for doctors and medicine, schooling and books etc.

Flats in Luxor launches multilingual website 欢迎你！Willkommen Bienvenido

An especial welcome to our Chinese, Spanish and German visitors from Flats in Luxor, Egypt. Our website has been translated just for you and we hope to have other languages shortly for Russian, French and Portuguese. .

The Flats in Luxor website goes multilingual reaching out to visitors from all over the world.

Everyone knows that China is becoming a serious new tourism market and we wanted to make a special welcome to visitors from that country. Independent travel is still a new concept for the Chinese and we are the first to make them feel that independent does not mean lack of support. We welcome Chinese visitors and hope to encourage them to find the real Egypt beyond the group tour. http://www.flatsinluxor.co.uk/language/chinese/index.html

German guests are common in Egypt and there are many facilities on the West Bank that they can relax in, restaurants run by Egyptians with German partners and even a German cultural group. Our new German website http://www.flatsinluxor.co.uk/language/german/index.html makes sure potential German guests understand our offering and find us in the search engines easily. We have had German guests in the past and we look forward to welcoming even more.

Spanish is one of the most common world languages and we want to increase our exposure to South America, which has so many common historical monuments. Jane says “I am sure South American visitors will find Egypt a fascinating place to visit. Hassan Fathy the famous architect built a village in Mexico as well as Luxor so we have links throughout the ages.” http://www.flatsinluxor.co.uk/language/spanish/index.html

Jane continues “We are going to be developing the website in other languages, there are many Russian visitors to the Red Sea but few visit the historical sites. By putting our website in Russian we will bring our offering to this large tourism market. Both Japanese and French versions are also planned.

Since 2003 we have been providing accommodation and tours to people all over the world but most of our guests have been English speaking from America, Britian, New Zealand and Australia. We hope putting our website into other languages we will increase the number of international guests.”

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

Now some 6 years later their company Flats in Luxor Group, which is registered in Egypt, have 4 apartment blocks with 21 flats and lots of land for development, some sold but the majority are available for holiday rentals. They feature in the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Responsible Travel, Tour Egypt, Trip Advisor and Virtual Tourist. They offer exciting and unusual tours which include the more remote places in Egypt, like Tel el Amarna and sailing holidays on traditional feluccas through www.sailthenile.com

Hathor Flat Sold, Luxor, Egypt

We are delighted to announce that we have sold the Hathor flat at Goubli. The new owner does not intend to be there all the time so it is still available for rent but this welcome injection of cash will enable us to set up our own electric substation which will make a terrific difference to the a/c at Goubli. Especially as summer is coming.

Mahmoud has already bought some land, within 40 minutes actually, :), next to Goubli and intends to develop some more property as well as a Nubian eco village on our existing land. So he is going to busy for the next year.

The new owner had taken the precaution of checking with Samir Farag, the governor of Luxor, who confirmed that our land was not scheduled for redevelopment and was a good position to buy. Which was nice confirmation for any other potential buyers.

Giving to the poor

Recently I was asked about children begging and what to give them. The writer was upset about it and wanted to give appropriately. So I thought I would give a general reply.

I live on the West Bank and my husband is a local. Many members of his family are poor. His sister is married to man who gets work on the roads and fields and could not break into tourism as he speaks no English. She had 5 children, four living and one died in a tragic accident. There is no running water in her house, they share communal toilet. But they never go hungry because my husband, her brother always buys extra and give her some. This is the way the West Bank works, a neighbour would always help you out, generally that neighbour is also a relative.

In her family an illness, the beginning of the school year when books have to be bought, the children growing out of clothes is a burden. It is hard for her family and we have to help out, I feel it is a privilege to help her. She does not let her children beg and would be mortified if they did.


However some families do, and the children make good money which they bring back to the family. This will buy much needed medicines, books for school, meat, clothes but being kids some of it will go on sweets.

If you really want to give money I would suggest giving it to the mosque, they will pass it to poor families, widows, orphans etc that you will never see. With the children at the sites I would give sweets, pens, hair slides AS YOU LEAVE.

Cheap Flights

There are some great cheap flights around at the moment on www.charterflights.co.uk

Glasgow to Sharm El Sheikh, 15 March, 14 nights, £164 return

Manchester to Sharm El Sheikh, 29 April, 4 nights, £187.50 return

Bristol to Sharm El Sheikh, 16 March, 14 nights, £216.50 return

Luton to Sharm El Sheikh, 16 March, 14 nights, £201.50 return

Gatwick to Luxor, 16 March, 7 nights, £216 return

Gatwick to Marsa Alam, 18 March, 7 nights, £260 return

Manchester to Marsa Alam, 18 March, 14 nights, £290 return