ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

The Continental-Savoy Hotel (also known as Grand Continental until 1924) is a former hotel located in Cairo City Centre, Egypt, active from 1890 until the 1980s. Considered the Shepherd's rival, he gradually fell into ruin until his demolition in 2018.

History
By 1865, a hotel (the New Hotel) was on the edge of the Opera Square and the Botanical Garden. In 1890 the Greek Cypriot George Nungovich built the Great Continental instead, which became the second largest palace after the Shepherd.

Many personalities stayed there during the first half of the 19th century, including Thomas Edward Lawrence in 1914. Lord Carnarvon died of illness in one of the Continental suites in 1923, while in 1941 Major Orde Wingate attempted suicide in his room.

From the 1950s onwards, the hotel suffered a painful slow decline in decrepitude. Despite several rehabilitation projects it was destroyed in 2018.

In the arts
In the comic book The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Philip Mortimer resides in the Continental Savoy.

Notes and references

See also
Shepheard Hotel
National Hotel in Cairo
Hotel Savoy (Cairo)

Continental
Continental
Monument disappeared in Cairo