The Haunted Hilton

The Ramses Hilton was built in the seventies, a result of the late genius Dr. William Hanna's efforts. It has now become a constant feature in Cairo's landscape, featuring in photos of the city as a landmark in it's own right. Standing at 110 meters talls, with 36 floors, it is one of the tallest buildings in Cairo.

The Ramses Hilton in the mid seventies

Even though many rival hotels have since appeared, many guests, especially from the Arabian Gulf , are attracted to the distinguished service they provide. I had the chance to experience this service myself when I was invited out to dinner at one of it's classic restaurants. The waiter was chatty and candid, joking and laughing with us, telling us stories of the past and present. Even when I requested a more traditional cup of tea, with the leaves at the bottom, I was promptly served, with no delay, despite it not being available on the menu. He called it Staff's tea with a wide grin on his face. It was an enjoyable night.

There was something about it though. The hotel in general. An arcane feel. My friend only heightened that feeling, with her new found fascination with it. I felt that countless skeletons were hidden in the closets of the countless rooms of this impressive place. The veils of mystery were craving for someone to transverse them...

I believe I know why.

A few years back I read a story in the news that I associated with this hotel whenever I saw it. It was the story of Princess Hind.

Princess Hind Al-Fasi was the wife of the Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz. According to the waiter, the prince himself was a timid and peaceful man, who liked to keep to himself. The princess however had a completely different pesona. She was wild and stormy, who enjoyed the extravagant lifestyle she led. They lived in self-imposed exile in Egypt for more than 30 years, occuping the top floors of the Ramses Hilton. They had a multinational security task-force, keeping them shielded from the rest of the world in this hotel. The security teams moved ahead of them, behind them and alongside them, with security dogs even accompanying them to the classy restaurants they ate in.

Princess Hind was not a new face in the news. She was constantly summoned to court for law violations, including walking out of a store with more than one million dollars worth of jewelry. Another incident involved three servants trying to escape from the top floors of the hotel by tying bedsheets together when they couldn't take the torture anymore. Her servants were kept in two hotel rooms, with six in each room. The princess merely ignored the court summons, and went about her lavish life without paying any attention to these issues.

Gary Ogaick,  a former employee of the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh, decided to investigate the princess himself. He bribed some of the guards to keep tabs on her, and the people who visited her. He seemed more interested in knowing whether she was involved in extramarital affairs, of which the guards provided him with information about. He also managed to find out that the princess kept tabs on her own husband, with hidden cameras placed by her guards whereever prince Turki frequented.

Other information he managed to aquire from the guards included beatings performed on both her servants and guards, usually involving handcuffs and metal wires.

Before I went to dine at the Ramses Hilton, I told my friend about her story. She looked her up online and to my surprise, found out that she had passed away recently - at the age of 52. The death itself was surrounded by controversy, and that had our minds running wild. I admit I never gave the hotel and it's princess that much thought before. But when my friend looked up at the hotel and took notice at how the last few floors were dark, I saw how the stories have captivated her. Her eyes were transfixed on Princess Hind's palace of secrets.

Gary Ogaick never talked about his discoveries again. The pressure reporters placed on him was not enough for him to give way. His last words to one of the reporters were "I'm not going to tell you anything about anything."