Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria At San Stefano

Once upon a time this was the site of a classic colonial-style pan-Mediterranean grand hotel called the San Stefano. Today it’s a case of plus ça change; what’s the towering, brand-new Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano, Egypt, if not the modern version of the classic, still recognizably colonial pan-Mediterranean grand hotel?

It’s massive enough on its own, and it’s connected to the equally hefty Grand Plaza commercial and retail development, which means it’s practically a city unto itself — it’s even connected to a private beach by a tunnel which runs under the busy motorway in front of the hotel.

And it wouldn’t be an uncomfortable place to shut yourself in. With just 118 rooms it’s not terribly large, at least by luxury-hotel standards, which means that on a per-guest basis the hotel’s already-impressive facilities are downright lavish. There’s a pool on a fourth-floor terrace, just high enough to form a seamless visual join between its infinity edge and the waters of the Mediterranean. Five restaurants and three bars would be a generous allotment in a much larger hotel, the spa is among the most extensive in Egypt, and the standard rooms themselves are worthy of a Cleopatra — which leaves the suites somewhat beyond description.