Latest news with #AlMoudira
Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Me and My Travels: Hugh Wallace on childhood Ireland trips and an extraordinary balloon ride
Favourite childhood holiday memory As kids, we travelled a lot in Ireland, caravan holidays in Downings, Donegal, and rented a cottage outside Roundstone in Connemara. I remember going up the lane to get milk from the farmer. It was still warm; it had just come from the cow. Holidays were always sunny, or that's how I remember it. Life was simpler. No screens. Just football, picnics, and drives. We'd go with my parents, their friends, and their kids, so there was always a gang. Hard-boiled eggs with sand on the beach, salad cream sandwiches, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. Nobody knew what a barbecue was back then. Picnics were it. You just packed up the car and off you went. Most memorable trip Hot air balloon flying over Namib desert One of the most extraordinary was a balloon ride over the Skeleton Coast in Namibia. We stayed in this amazing conservation lodge and every evening all the animals — zebras, giraffes, and even lions — would walk in lines to a watering hole. None of them were hunting, just going for a drink. It was surreal. I've worked across the Middle East and Africa, and Algeria was fascinating. Architecturally, it's incredible. In the 1960s, when they got independence, it was like someone locked the place up and left everything untouched. I remember being up in a spa town in the mountains. We had to wear flak jackets and helmets because there were still snipers. We once ended up in a brothel in the middle of a cornfield in Luxor. We didn't know it was a brothel. It was hilarious. Martin and I love to explore, and we've had some wild experiences. Most surprising destination Luxor Temple, famous landmark of Egypt Egypt surprised me the most. People always talk about Irish hospitality but the Egyptians? They have nothing and yet they are so warm, so friendly, impeccably dressed, and full of fun. You'd be standing on the street wondering where you're going and someone would just help you, no problem. The food, the culture, the energy — it blew us away. We'd get a battered yellow Peugeot to town and cross the Nile on the public ferry with locals carrying chickens and vegetables. It was magic. Favourite city in the world Ancient columns in Rome Rome. I love how the Italians own their streets. They promenade every evening, even in December. You get your coffee, stop, watch people. There's a safety and a pride in how they live. I love the contrast in architecture, from Roman ruins to Mussolini's Olympic Park, which I find fascinating in its arrogance. Then, across the river, you have Zaha Hadid's museum, all flowing and modern, the complete opposite. Rome has all of that, and fabulous food and shopping too. Martin loves it. Favourite hotel Al Moudira, Luxor We stayed at Al Moudira, an amazing hotel in Luxor, on the West Bank. All the hotels are on the Nile's East Bank but I found this place: 50 rooms, run by two incredibly elegant Lebanese women. One was a jeweller. They were about 6ft 3in, so stylish, and they knew everything. That's how we saw the city as locals would. If you asked for the wine list, you got: red, white, or rosé. There were no televisions, no books, no nonsense. The guests were all a bit eccentric: artists, people writing books. The physio who did massages in the hotel also worked with the Egyptian football team. It was that kind of place. There was a 50m swimming pool surrounded by French 1930s colonial furniture. It felt like something out of a film. It was just an incredible, vivid experience. Most memorable food experience I love offal. In Algeria, you'd get heart, liver, kidneys — all cooked over street barbecues. They'd thread fat between the meat to keep it moist and flavourful. Martin hated it. I loved it. I don't think many people say offal when asked that question but it really was incredible. Favourite thing to do while travelling Safari. It's not what people expect from me but it's probably the thing I love most. We've done a few: Kruger in South Africa, Phinda, Zimbabwe, Namibia. They're all different. You do three days, get to know your ranger, and you never know what you'll see. We once woke up to an elephant drinking from our pool. Another time, we found a cheetah with her cubs, just 15m away. We saw two male elephants fighting and one even came for the Land Rover. Bucket-list trip Namba area street in Osaka, Japan Japan is top of the list. I want to go to the Expo (2025 World Expo in Osaka, Kansai, Japan) this year. I also want to go to Argentina for three months. I'd start at the bottom and work my way up. But I have to learn Spanish first. If you're going to do a place properly, you've got to speak the language.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
The rise of independent female hoteliers: from Valentina De Santis with Passalacqua, rated one of the best hotels in the world, to Esin Güral Argat with Joali in the Maldives
The hospitality industry has long been powered by women but it wasn't until the mid-1990s, when Singaporean hotelier Cristina Ong founded Como Hotels and Resorts that female founders started to attract the spotlight. Women like Rosewood's Sonia Cheng and Marie-Louise Scio from Pellicano Group have taken the helm of their family businesses and focused on new brands, openings and acquisitions. Others like Italian Irene Forte, heir to Rocco Forte Hotels, have carved their own niche by experimenting with new concepts ranging from wellness to fashion. Now a new generation of female founders are moving beyond their family legacies to create fresh hotel concepts that reflect their own personalities, while catering to the needs and desires of a new breed of travellers. Al Moudira Hotel in Luxor, Egypt. Photo: Handout Advertisement 'Today most female-run hotels are not big chain hotels. Many of these properties are independent and showcase the founder's unique personal touch. Female hoteliers today are intent on doing things their own way – it's not about following the masses,' says Zeina Aboukheir, founder of Al Moudira. Aboukheir is not a new name. The Italian-Lebanese tastemaker launched Luxor's now famed Al Moudira Hotel in 2002, before selling it in 2022 (she is still a consultant). The chic boutique hotel was designed by renowned Egyptian architect Olivier Sednaoui, but every detail was conceived by Aboukheir, including its old-world interiors featuring artworks and antiques she sourced, from handcrafted doors to hand-painted floor tiles. 'Twenty-five years ago it was already strange to have someone building a hotel in Egypt in the middle of the desert, let alone a woman,' she explains. 'Al Moudira has been successful because it has a special charm – everything is personal. It reflects my tastes and personality. It's a little bit of a mess, like me.' Zeina Aboukheir, founder of Al Moudira. Photo: Handout Italian hotelier Valentina De Santis is another ambitious hotelier who has made waves by transforming an 18th century private villa on the banks of Lake Como into Passalacqua, one of the best hotels in the world (an accolade bestowed upon the hotel by the World's 50 Best organisation, William Reed Business Media, in 2023). Hospitality runs in her veins – her grandfather bought Grand Hotel Tremezzo, another iconic property on Italy's Lake Como, in 1975. She joined the family business in 2010, but it wasn't until 2018, when they stumbled upon the property, that she was ready to build a new concept from the ground up. De Santis meticulously restored and updated the villa's historic interiors, while also engaging her good friend, renowned Milan-based designer J.J. Martin of La DoubleJ, to help her transform the hotel's pool and bar areas with her colourful and maximalist prints. Valentina De Santis, founder of Passalacqua. Photo: Handout 'It was the first time J.J. worked on a design project but we loved the idea of doing something together. Hospitality is still quite a male-dominated industry but the attention to detail, the kindness, the feminine touch a woman can bring to a property are unique. Guests are always saying our hotel has a female heart,' she says.
CairoScene
12-06-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Luxor's Al Moudira Named One of World's Most Beautiful Hotels in 2025
The iconic hotel just became the first in Egypt to win the Prix Versailles—naming it one of the most beautiful in the business. A kaleidoscope of ochre courtyards, antique archways, and palm-shaded pathways, Al Moudira, a Relais & Châteaux hotel, has always felt more like a dreamscape than a stay. Tucked at the edge of Luxor's West Bank, where pharaonic tombs slumber beneath desert sands, this singular sanctuary has quietly captivated aesthetes, artists, and soul-searchers for over two decades. Now, it has earned a new kind of reverence—officially named one of 'The World's Most Beautiful Hotels 2025' by the Prix Versailles. Announced annually at UNESCO, the prize honours properties that strike a rare balance between heritage, innovation, and intelligent sustainability. Among this year's 16 winners across the globe, Al Moudira is not only the sole Egyptian hotel on the list—it is also the first in Egypt ever to receive this recognition. Built from the ground up by Lebanese hotelier Zeina Aboukheir and architect Olivier Sednaoui, Al Moudira was never meant to be just a hotel. It is a vision carved from sun-baked stone and stitched with the textures of the Levant: mashrabiya lattices, hand-painted tiles, vaulted ceilings, and vintage Damascene fabrics sourced from souqs long gone. Every corner whispers of craftsmanship and care. Yet the beauty here is not just architectural—it's agricultural, cultural, and deeply communal. The hotel's adjoining farm now feeds its kitchens with up to 80% of their produce, depending on the season. Nearby village homes have been restored in vernacular style with Al Moudira's help, while local children learn English onsite and artisans are trained in traditional crafts. From regenerative farming to sustainable sourcing, the ethos is simple: build beauty that gives back. As Prix Versailles notes, the award celebrates places that are 'at once grounded and visionary.' And Al Moudira—forever grounded in Luxor's history, yet always planting something new—embodies that to the letter.
