Heissa Island · Aswan · Egypt

ANubian guest houseon a Nile island.

Sleep on the Nile. Wake to Nubia.

Vaulted rooms with hand-painted murals. Feluccas drifting past your terrace at sunrise. A family table where Nubian dishes pass from hand to hand. This is what staying on Heissa Island feels like — not a hotel, but a home with nine doors.

Why stay with us

A small place,fully ours.

Nubian island, Nubian house

Heissa is a working Nubian village on the Nile. Our hosts are from the island, our walls were painted by neighbors, and our recipes come from family kitchens.

On the water, off the grid

Reach us by motorboat across the Nile. Once you arrive, the only sounds are the river, the wind, and the call to prayer drifting from the village.

Family-run, all 9 rooms

One family. Nine rooms. No call centers, no chains, no front-desk theater. You'll meet the same faces at breakfast that you met at check-in.

Curated experiences, included care

Felucca rides, Nubian villages, Philae and Abu Simbel, cooking classes, camel treks. We'll help you choose what fits your time and energy.

HA
The Heissa Artie family Hosting on Heissa Island, Aswan
A guest house, not a hotel — and we mean it.
Our story

Built by Nubians,for travelers who want more.

Heissa Artie sits on a small Nubian island in the middle of the Nile, ten minutes by motorboat from Aswan corniche. Our walls are white-washed and arched in the old Nubian way. Our floors are cool stone. Our doors are painted blue against the desert light.

This is not a place you pass through. It's a place you stay in — long enough to learn names, drink hibiscus on the terrace, hear the wind shift before sunset, and understand why Nubians have been on these islands for four thousand years.

Where you'll sleep

Nine rooms.No two alike.

See all 9 rooms

Every room has a private bath, mini-bar, safe, kettle, mosquito-repellent, and daily mineral water. What changes is the bed configuration, the view, and the mural on the wall.

Things to do

Aswan is yoursto wander.

See all 9 experiences

We arrange the boat, the guide, the tickets. You arrive, you go, you come back to dinner. Pick one or pick all.

Felucca on the Nile
Half-day · Sunset

Felucca on the Nile

 Philae Temple Tour in Aswan
On the island

Philae Temple Tour in Aswan

6 hours · Up to 8
Camel Ride to the Dunes
to the Dunes

Camel Ride to the Dunes

3 hours · Up to 8
Nubian Cooking Class
On the island

Nubian Cooking Class

3 hours · Up to 6
Abu Simbel Day Trip
Day trip

Abu Simbel Day Trip

Full day · Up to 4
The Restaurant Open 7am – 10pm
Our table

Nubian food,served the way it's meant to be.

Our restaurant is small, like everything else here. Breakfast is included with your stay — fresh bread, fava beans, eggs, fruit, hibiscus tea. Lunch and dinner are à la carte: tagines from the clay oven, river-caught fish, vegetables from Aswan markets, dates and honey from across the river.

Breakfast included
Half-board available
Vegetarian & vegan options
Halal kitchen
See sample menu
From our guests

Quiet days.Long evenings.

Words from travelers who've stayed with us across the seasons.

★★★★★

Quiet, beautiful, peaceful. The hand-painted rooms are even prettier than the photos online.

Mei Yamamoto Tokyo, JP
booking
★★★★★

A real Nubian guest house — not a chain hotel pretending to be one. Worth every minute of the journey.

Leo Fernandez Buenos Aires, AR
airbnb
★★★★★

The cooking class with Mama was the highlight of our entire Egypt trip. We still cook her foul recipe at home.

David Chen Singapore
tripadvisor
Finding us

A short crossingand you're home.

Heissa Island sits in the middle of the Nile, just south of Aswan. From the city it's a ten-minute motorboat ride. We arrange pickup from Aswan airport, the train station, or your hotel — just tell us when.

1
Land in Aswan Direct flights from Cairo, train from Cairo or Luxor
2
Meet at the corniche Our driver collects you and brings you to the dock
3
Cross to Heissa 10 minutes by motorboat — Nile breeze included
Plan your stay

Nine rooms. The whole island.Yours for a few nights.

Tell us when you're coming and how many you are. We'll do the rest.

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