Booking a hotel with a “pyramid view,” tourists were shocked to discover the truth.

Mark Jeavons rented a hotel room in Egypt for £40 (about 1.3 million VND)/night. When he arrived, he was shocked to discover that the place did not exist.​

Mark Jeavons (43 years old) - a teacher from Wolverhampton, England, as well as a travel blogger - was excited about spending 4 nights at the Pyramids and Sphinx View hotel in Giza, Egypt, with the room price advertised as £40 (about 1.3 million VND)/night. However, when he arrived late at night, he was horrified to find that there was no hotel here, just a deserted alley. The scene was completely different from the pictures Mark saw when booking through the Booking.com website. In fact, this "hotel" had received dozens of positive reviews and was described as having a view of the pyramids from the rooftop.

"There were no signs of a hotel there at all. The taxi driver asked people on the street but no one had heard of this place. The situation was terrible," the man recounted.
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Trusting the positive reviews on the hotel booking website, Mark Jeavons only found out he had been scammed when he arrived (Photo: Mark Jeavons).

Mark had booked a room from January 4 to January 7. He was notified to pay directly at the hotel located at Gamal abd al nasser st nazlet elsemman, 12557, Egypt. In this tragicomic situation, Mark had to wander the streets until he found another place to stay. After about an hour of walking, he stopped at The Sun and Sand Hotel and had to pay £80 (about 2.6 million VND)/night. Mark said he was overly trusting in the good reviews about the "ghost hotel" when he booked the room. Upon returning to England, he began to investigate the mystery of this place.

"I discovered that many people had warned on Google that this was a scam service," he said. After Mark complained to Booking.com, the hotel disappeared from the website. However, information about this place still exists on the hotel comparison site Trivago, which shows the location on the map but does not have images or reviews. The Sphinx and Pyramids View hotel in Giza was uploaded to Booking.com on July 19 and was listed on the same street as The Pyramids and Sphinx View hotel on Trivago.

To date, the hotel has received 44 reviews with a score of 9.0. The positive comments overshadow a few who rated this place as a scam. A series of images of the "ghost hotel" on Booking.com show luxurious bedrooms, women in revealing clothing posing in bathtubs, and a few beauties in front of the pyramids. Although the start was not as expected, Mark enjoyed a great time exploring the pyramids, temples, and flying in hot air balloons in Luxor. He has visited more than 40 countries and writes about his experiences for his blog, MJ Travel Guides.

A spokesperson for Booking.com said: "We are very sorry to hear about the customer's experience with a property listed on our platform. We are continuing to investigate and will contact the customer directly to provide any further assistance."