The Talisman is a lovely place. The rooms are charming, the sheet are clean and soft and the decorations special. Of course, you're not in a standard 5 stars, so you'll probably get disappointed if you are looking for those kind of facilities. Instead, you are in an Egyptian boutique hotel, where you can spend the evening talking with the owner, Mr Mohamed, about religion, politics, middle east and ... Monica Bellucci, or going shopping with a real friend, Hamdi El-Shora of Adventure in Egypt, that brings you around Cairo as long as you don't find what you are looking for (lovely manner and good prices).

Even though we had the correct addiress, it took the taxi driver almost half an hour to find the hotel, which is hidden in an alley off a very noisy commercial street. My adult son and I were traveling together and had requested two twin beds, both on the expedia booking and in a separate phone call to Expedia, which promised to call the hotel. But when we checked in, we were shown to a room with only one queen bed. The hotel's solution was a flimsy rollaway, which collapsed in the night. Worse, there was a whistling sound apparently coming from the water pipes, a sound that repeated every 10 seconds! When we reported the problem, the night manager said they would try to fix it and offered us a free night's stay (which the day manager claimed to know nothing about on check-out). We returned a few hours later to find the problem still unresolved. Exhausted, we fell asleep for a few hours, but were awakened by the whistling noise. By this point, we were ready to move to the Hilton that my son's friends had recommended. The day manager promised to move us at the first opportunity later that morning, and indeed, did so. The new room was bigger, with two twin beds, and no whistling water pipes, although the street sounds were still rather loud. We stayed the remaining two nights, but cancelled our reservation to spend our final night in Egypt at the Talisman.
On the plus side, the decor was as charming as the hotel's website suggested and the hotel had a computer with free Internet access for guest use.

The Talisman is overall an excellent hotel but it does have its quirks. However, if you know these quirks ahead of time and are OK with them, it can be quite an enjoyable stay.

The hotel is right in the downtown area. Cab drivers will not know the hotel, so you will need them to take you nearby and then walk. The surrounding area is safe, very crowded, and shops outside are open at least until Midnight. You can buy bootleg DVDs and lots of knock off clothes nearby.

The rooms themselves are quite basic, but very clean and well maintained. Given the location you can't expect much more. You can spend similar money and get much better rooms near the Airport (i.e. Hotel Concorde el Salam), but then you need to spend another $20 USD a day on cabs getting into and out of the downtown - and at least 30 min each way. The shower water cycles from hot to cold to hot, so it takes some getting used to. Every morning at 5 AM you will be woken up by prayers, which go on for about two minutes.

The front desk staff are very nice and helpful if you get to know them. They don't expect tips like high end hotels and are willing to give you tips - tips on where to go, what is a good price to pay for clothes at the Khan, etc! Alternatively, if you want to be left alone, they will leave you alone. We stayed at regular hotel chains in Cairo, and the front desk staff at the Talisman are much better!! They get to know you as people rather than just as money holding tourists.

Breakfast is basic as other reviews have stated. The fresh squeezed orange juice is great!

At the hotel, there is a tour operator, Hamdi. For two students, you can pay $40 USD each and get a day-trip tour of the Pyramids. The price is closer to $55 USD for a single person by yourself. The tour guides are very good - usually ~25 year old University students who are very knowledgeable - and there is also a driver, both of whom you tip at the end of the day. The only thing to watch out for is they try to take you to Alabaster/Jewelry "museum" stores and a very expensive, bad lunch. If you tell them ahead of time you don't want to do any of this, they will oblige, which is good. There are plenty of other food options if you are forceful, and bathrooms are available at all tourist sites, so don't worry about being forced to a store. Don't be pushed around!

Other little tidbits: The free internet at the hotel is great. It is hard to find good restaurants in Cairo - I'd suggest ignoring "mid-range" places and just going to the "fast-food" cheap eats places, or trying out some higher end places. Mid-range places seem to be targeted to tourists, with mostly bad food but with Western service/look/feel.

An oasis of calm in a hectic city. Wel loved our stay at the Talisman. The hotel owners have taken great care to furnish the rooms beautifully. Every corner holds an exquisite piece of antique furniture, and the rooms are literally picture perfect.

The service was excellent, and although lacking in the wide range of amenities you would find in a five star hotel, I would choose this place every time.

The hotel can be a bit difficult to find, but definitely worth perservering!