MENA HOUSE was originally Khedive Ismail's (built 1863) rest house cum hunting lodge. It was converted to a hotel at the turn of the 20th century. Being the only hotel in the vicinity of the pyramids up to the 1960s, it hosted every emperor, king, president, general, business tycoon and megastar who visited Egypt. Enemies-to-the-death and wartime allies stayed there between 1939-14 including Josef Goebbels, Franklyn Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Generalissimo Chiang Kai Chek. The last three hammered out at Mena House the final plans for a wholesale victory over Germany and Italy.