For this one it really depends on your definition of luxury. Lost in the middle of desert, it is a hot, dusty eight-hours west from Cairo to get here. Moreover, when you do there are no electric lights or air conditioning to greet you. But in 2002, the Egyptian Government declared 7,800 square km in and around the Siwa Oasis a protected area, so what you are getting here is a hotel in the middle of one of the most pristine wildernesses on earth; timeless and awe-inspiring. As Colonel Wilfred Jennings-Bramley, an English officer who served in the Western Desert wrote in 1896, "The famous oasis of Siwa ... only it has stood still while the world went on". From our 21^st century perspective, this is even truer. With the appearance of an old Berber village, the hotel rests in the shade of a yellow-rock mountain. This eco-resort (one of the only 'green' hotels in Egypt) is a mysterious, magical place full of shady corridors and hidden desert views. Hand-built entirely of traditional 'kershif', a mix of stone, salt water and clay, the hotel's 40 rooms are open to the warm desert air. Desert chic (and the rooms are chic) consists of furniture made by local artisans, colourful carpets, beeswax candles and doors made from palm wood. At night, oil lamps guide you to dinner and a feast fit for a sheik. During the day, you can bath in a palm-shaded pool fed by an underground spring.