I also mentioned that a new restaurant block was to replace the thatched roof dining barn that has been there for at least 10 years. The basic structure was completed by the time that I arrived in October but there is a lot of finishing work that is slowly taking place. And the entrance on the Nile side of the hotel is to be brought into use. The staircase from the gate to the garden level has been made more even, although I would prefer it if one did not have to climb to the first floor of the unfinished block before coming down 6 steps into the garden. And there must be a bannister or hand-rail for these steps. No thought is ever given to those with limited mobility. An accessible route must be maintained using the gate near el-Nakhil hotel, and the entrance near Fayrouz hotel must be kept in use.
The new restaurant is 5 bays wide and 2 bays deep. It could easily seat 150 people. The vaulted ceiling is high. I doubt if it will open this season.
The restaurant is the large block to the right of the pool. The new unfinished block of apartments is lower right from the pool and down from the restaurant. The new wing shows here as a grey concrete roof with a this white line below it near the top centre. Below it is a green garden area and then the L-shaped old ring with its circular dome showing clearly against the off-white terrace and light-gray awning.
There must be a way to annotate the picture - I probably need to make a line-drawing. The width of the Sheherazade site is about 130 metres from the "school block" to the old wing, and it is about 90 metres from the current front of the hotel to the gate on the Nile side. Of course it is an irregular shape bounded by roads and other properties. I estimate about 6,000 square metres.