CAIRO – The Windsor Hotel isn’t easy to find tucked between lofty, dust-covered buildings, thick knots of motorbikes and crowded tea shops.
But its entrance, framed by decrepit lanterns and the hotel’s original sign, looks like a haven lost in time as one peers into its glimmering lobby.
As Egypt grapples with political strife that smothered the tourism industry, hotel proprietors such as those at the Windsor are holding their breath, hoping this week’s vote on a proposed new constitution will help bring an end to a prolonged period of toil.
Relatively few visitors have come to Cairo during the past three years. Yet those who are can often visit the Windsor, a onetime British Officer’s Club, to catch a rare, nearly unchanged glimpse into Egypt’s colonial past when England was at its height as a world empire.
Vintage travel posters line the foyer’s walls. An ancient elevator, enclosed in wrought iron gates, is operated manually by a liftman. Upstairs guest rooms squeak underfoot from the original hardwood floors.
Antique rotary phones are used to call the front desk, which uses a switchboard.
“I’ve been coming here for 30 years,” said Peter Narainbas, an Indian businessman based in Hong Kong who often stays at the Windsor
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