Be aware when traveling to Egypt; we booked reservations at the Metropole Hotel in Alexandria (a good hotel, located in the center of town) and paid through a travel agency. When we arrived, the hotel clerk and manager insisted our reservations had been moved to another hotel about an hour outside of town. It was a second rate beach resort in the off season (no towels in the room, waited over an hour in the restaurant only to learn they didn't really have the food on the menu, lot of bugs, etc.)
The manager kept insisting that the reservation at "the Metropole" doesn't mean you actually go to that hotel, but that you get put in one of the company's hotels somewhere.
Therefore, the Metropole has good reviews, but there's no guarantee you actually get in after you pay.