Walther von Hallwyl with his daughter Irma von Geijer at the Gezirah Palace Hotel

NICE HOTELS

We know that the von Hallwyl family stayed at the Gezirah Palace, but we do not know exactly when or for how long. They seem to have mostly stayed at the Savoy Hotel, which was also very elegant. Ida Uhse writes this on 1 December:
“The 1st of Dec. In the morning we went to the rug bazaar where the Countess purchased three rugs as a Christmas gift for Mrs Kempe and one for herself. After breakfast we strolled along the streets and we then went to the Gezirah Palace Hotel, where we took rooms.”

On 3 December she writes: “Today, early in the morning, we yet again went to the Gezirah Palace Hotel, which is located on an island outside the city and is surrounded by a large park”, which indicates that they did not stay more than one night on 1 December.

On 4 March they seem to have stayed at least one night at the hotel. At any rate, the following diary excerpt was written there:
“Gezirah Palace, 4th of March. We went to the citadel at 7:30am, where we were to see the caravan that would bring the Holy Carpet to Mecca. The Pasha was there with pomp and circumstance, as well as the military and large crowds of people.”