This historic Cairo constructing used to accommodate Egypt’s glitterati. Now it is a secret luxurious escape

The Immobilia flats will not be for Cairo novices, particularly when loads of worldwide lodges within the metropolis supply familiarity to first-timers in search of a smooth touchdown within the Egyptian capital. However for individuals who thrive on Cairo’s all the time exhilarating, usually confounding vitality, and who need an expertise that’s much less about predictable luxurious and extra like staying within the dwelling of extraordinarily fashionable mates, these just lately renovated flats in an architectural icon are simply the factor.

Tour Immobilia, Cairo

Arriving on the Immobilia constructing could be a daunting prospect. It’s positioned in the course of Cairo’s crowded, noisy centre, a brief stroll from Tahrir Sq. and the Egyptian Museum, the encircling air crammed with a cacophony of honking automobile horns, cooing pigeons and the thrill of one of many world’s most thrilling cities. There’s no indication that you just’ve arrived till you see the smiling face of Ali, the previous butler of the American ambassador, who oversees 4 just lately renovated flats within the constructing, a part of the Egypt Past portfolio together with Luxor’s Al Moudira lodge, the Set Nefru dahabiya on the Nile, and La Maison Bleue in El Gouna.

Thought-about Cairo’s first skyscraper and as soon as the tallest constructing within the Center East and Africa, Immobilia sprawls over a pair of towers constructed between 1938 and 1940 by Egyptian industrialist Ahmed Abboud Pasha, one of many wealthiest males on the planet on the time. Max Edrei and Gaston Rossi, each recognized for his or her many contributions to mid-century Egyptian structure, have been answerable for the design of the pioneering constructing. Immobilia eschewed the classical detailing that was the style of the period in favour of Artwork Deco traces, providing the epitome of magnificence with modern, trendy exteriors. The constructing’s spectacular views of the Nile appealed to the Cairo glitterati, drawing a classy rota of residents and guests together with film stars, politicians and artists.

In the present day, the towers mix into the remainder of town’s dusty, rough-around-the-edges city cloth. Gaze out of a window on the higher flooring and the views are of a sepia-toned cityscape, of neighbouring rooftops spiked with satellite tv for pc dishes and TV antennae, and the cylindrical Cairo Tower standing tall on Gezira Island, surrounded by the waters of the Nile. Whereas the river is now not seen, immediately’s panoramas are as alluring in their very own manner as these early unobstructed vistas should have been.

The doorway to the constructing gives no extra clues as to what awaits in Egypt Past’s new flats. The primary door is flanked by plastic indicators in Arabic textual content asserting different residents – legal professionals, public notaries, distributors of ‘Informal Girls Clothes’ – and the dimly lit foyer, with its clunky lifts and wires dangling from the ceiling, is a far cry from the gleaming marble and floral preparations of downtown Cairo’s luxurious lodges.

However coming into Leila’s Condo, my pied-à-terre for 2 nights is like stepping right into a secret, a peaceable eyrie that transports me above the noise of the streets under right into a soothing house crammed with a mixture of antiques, objets d’artwork and furnishings items that honour the unique Artwork Deco fashion of the constructing, but hark again to a romantic, nostalgic – and presumably imagined – age. The flats have been renovated, restored and embellished by lawyer and hotelier Florian Amereller with assist from mates together with designer Zeina Aboukheir, the Italian-Lebanese founding father of the dreamy Al Moudira lodge in Luxor. Sourcing gadgets for the flats was a treasure hunt that took years.