Saudi Arabian construction company Al-Sharif Group has awarded a contract to Egyptian firm SIAC Construction to develop, renovate and expand the Shepheard Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, one of the most famous hotels in the world.
This latest contract is the final piece in getting the hotel back up and running. The property closed in 2014.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will operate the 276-room hotel when it reopens in 2024 as the Mandarin Oriental Shepheard, Cairo.
Located on the eastern bank of the Nile River, the hotel’s many historical touches will be kept intact.
The SIAC contract is valued at $16.36 million and includes a 14-floor extension and four floors of underground parking, according to Dubai-based news agency Zawya.
In 2020, Al-Sharif was awarded the contract to begin the renovation of the hotel, shortly thereafter signing a financing contract with the National Bank of Egypt for 978.2 million Egyptian pounds ($31.9 million).
The latest deal sees the total investment come in at just a little less than $50 million.
The hotel’s owner is the state-owned Egyptian General Company for Tourism & Hotels, which owns 13 hotels in the country, including the Marriott Mena House Hotel, Steigenberger Cecil, Sofitel Winter Palace and Legend Old Cataract Aswan.
Esteemed History
An Englishman Samuel Shepheard opened the hotel in 1841, when it was known as the Hotel des Anglais. It also has been named simply Shepheard’s Cairo.
Its guests have included Winston Churchill. One of its banquet halls was one of the host sites for the celebration of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and during World War II it was a base for allied officers.
According to the Dec. 14, 1942, issue of Life magazine: “When [World War II] in the desert went badly, a favorite criticism back home was that it was being fought from the terrace of Shepheard’s,” referring to the pivotal battles in North Africa against the German general Erwin Rommel.
The 1942 article also lavished praise on the hotel’s operation.
“The food is as good as anything at Paris’ Ritz, or Berlin’s Adlon or Rome’s Grand. The service by silent slippered Egyptians and the Swiss elite of hotel experts is unmatched,” it said.
The hotel burned down during riots on Jan. 27, 1952, in what is now known as the Cairo Fire, or Black Saturday.
During the riot, more than 750 shops and businesses were looted and burned in reaction to the “Battle of Ismalia” two days before when Egyptian police refused a British army order to disarm, a decision that led to multiple deaths.
With its British connections, the hotel was an obvious target, despite Shepheard having sold the hotel in 1861, albeit to other Western interests.