The Winter Palace Hotel is a grand Victorian edifice on the East Bank Corniche, built in 1886 by Thomas Cook to serve wealthy tourists during the Egyptian winter season. Its colonnaded facade, tropical gardens descending to the Nile, and period-furnished public rooms are worth seeing even if you are not staying — have a drink on the terrace overlooking the river, or a coffee in one of the lounges.
The hotel is most famous for its connection to Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, but it has a longer history as the gathering place for Egyptologists, aristocrats, and writers who made Luxor their winter base. The atmosphere is colonial in the most literal sense, which makes it either charming or uncomfortable depending on your perspective. The old wing has more character than the newer extension. A visit here at sunset, with a drink on the terrace as the Nile turns gold, is one of Luxor's more civilised pleasures.