The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

If you dare to inquire current hotel room prices around Egypt, you’re likely to be shocked into reconsidering the trip you were planning altogether. We could talk about the state of the economy and the country’s ailing tourism being the reasons, but that’s a story for another day.

One would either have to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for a hotel room or private villa – or rely on that one friend whose parents own a holiday home – but new online platform, Book2Trip, presents a different option to private accommodation in Egypt and the Middle East.

It does so by providing property owners an easy outlet to offer their villas/apartments/chalets/rooms to travellers and holidaymakers, who are in turn offered easy, simple tools to search for the best and most convenient (two things that don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand in Egypt) accommodation options.

Describing itself as a ‘vacation rentals platform’, this ambitious project is the first of its kind in the region in acting as an easy-to-use meeting point between hosts and guests, with an internal messaging system allowing for easy and efficient communications.

How does it do this?

If I’m a Guest

This is the exciting part – there’s a certain sense of satisfaction in browsing the endless listings as you find your perfect choice. Those tools we mentioned earlier allow travellers to customise their search to the fullest, with users able to narrow their search based on everything from rental price and property type, to all the specific types of amenities that come as part of the package; it even gives you the option of specifying whether you’re looking for a private room, shared room or a whole place.

What makes it all a breeze is that you deal directly with the host; you pay them directly, so there’s no hidden cost and no interference from a third party.

If I’m a Host

If you have a holiday home you want to rent out, Book2Trip makes it just as easy for you. Again there are no hidden costs – or costs at all. Listing your property is free and the site gives you as many options as possible to not only list it accurately, but also to actually put into the shop window, so to speak, and really sell it to potential bookers.

Usability is key here, with Book2Trip making responding and sorting through your booking requests simple. The Send Offer feature is pretty valuable, too, allowing you to attract potential guests – or previous ones – to new properties, new rental prices or new features of existing properties.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of listed properties at the moment, everywhere from Hurghada, to Dahab, to Ain El Sokhna anbd everywhere in-between – and they keep getting bigger by the day, as Book2Trip is set to serve across the whole world. Check it out for yourself in English or Arabic.