Extremely charming, richly decorated with warm colours and beautiful carved furniture. Our room was large, with airconditioning, a small refrigerator, TV. The bathroom had shower and bidet, and lots of spare towels.
Also charming is the elevator (to look at only - I recommend the stairs!), it can be a little tempremental.
Great location, and remarkably quiet considering how close it is to a main shopping street. Within walking distance to Egyptian Museum, a number of restaurants and a shopping mall.
Staff were friendly and quiet - very much in the background unless we needed them. Breakfast was included, and was the standard toast-croissant-egg-juice combo.
Our memory is of a quiet, romantic and gentle atmosphere, with the benefit of being smack bang in the middle of Cairo's busiest areas.

We recently stayed at the Talisman for three nights during the middle of the "Feast". This was a good time to stay there, as the streets were very crowded outside, even late at night when we first arrived, but it wasn't very loud in the hotel. The hotel is off Taalit Harb, just south of 26th July, two of the main streets in Cairo, down a populated alley across from the L'Americaine Cafe. The building seems a little sketchy when you walk in, but you take the old school elevator upstairs, and you enter the lobby. The rooms are cute, but on the smaller side. Our first night a ceiling tile fell in the bathroom, which could have been quite dangerous if we were in there at the time. Also, there's a note to put "nothing" in the toilet, including toilet paper. I don't have a problem with that, just not at $100 a night. That said, the place was clean and safe, two key things in any hotel in a foreign country. One note, you have to pay cash for your room. We did a tour of the pyramids offered through the Talisman, which was a good tour. Breakfast was decent enough. Overall, I'd probably stay there again, but the place it a little pricey for what it offers.

My sister "Pat", brother "Jeff", and friend "Dana" arrived at the Talisman very tired after two days of traveling from San Franciso to Cairo. The Staff were very friendly and continued to be so throughout our stay. We loved our beautifully decorated rooms. The owner was very helpful and friendly..if your a Musical or Movie buff...he's all ears and enjoys talking of his experiences in the U.S. while completeing his Masters at USD and his months in New York City studying and seeing many musicals. We all agreed the Breakfast was more than adequate for us. My only advise is to book your tours through Thomas Cook or a well known tour operator. If your planning on a Falucca trip up the Nile...be prepared for "camping" out and take food and water with you. Thanks Talisman, Deborah Oda, Seattle, WA

We stayed there for 3 nights. It was not bad. The room was clean and comfortable and the hotel as a whole was thoughtfully decorated. The breakfast was a bit of a let down though due to the poor service. There wasn't any staff in the dining room when we were there and had to scavenge around (other used tables) for hot water and Nescafe! Be careful also of the tour operator stationed right next to the hotel reception desk (Hamdi El-Shora of Adventure in Egypt). We got thoroughly overcharged for a day trip to Giza/Saqarra - fair game, you may say, for Cairo as everything is up for bargaining. But Hamdi also tried to "help" us negotiate a good price for a taxi to the train station as we were checking out. He came up with a price at least three times the going rate! We had wisened up by then and refused. All in all, a decent hotel but the service can be improved. The real let down, however, is their tour operator partner stationed in their premises - don't be fooled by them.