Lodging: Dahab Hotel (Cairo)
The Dahab Hotel is so cheap even locals refuse to believe it's possible. Granted, I was staying in a dorm room with 4 beds, the mattresses were saggy foam, there were nasty toilet-showers, and it was on the 7th floor of a building whose lift occasionally broke down. But for less than $2, who's complaining?
The hotel was recommended by a local, but was also featured on "Globe Trekker" (the PBS travel program) and written up in Lonely Planet. There are other room options, like private rooms and rooms with baths. After I actually visited Dahab, I could understand the relaxed, flop-down-on-cushions-and-chat kind of atmosphere the Dahab Hotel in Cairo was trying to recreate. It was a great place for meeting other travelers, as well as locals—the staff there was fantastic, young and clearly all friends. They were fun to hang out with and gave great advice. This is the place where I discovered that hotels can be a safe, non-sleazy way to meet some nice locals.
I was arriving in Cairo at 1:30am, so I booked online ahead of time, and requested a pick-up from the airport for $8. Later I found out this is the actual rate most taxis will charge, so the hotel is not trying to cheat. The first day, the tour manager Mohnassin tried to sell me some of their tours in and around Cairo, which seem reasonably priced but I wasn't interested.
The staff will buy bus and train tickets for you with a 15EP fee. Since it would take either 5EP each way in a taxi to the train/bus stations or a really long time to walk or take the bus, it was perfectly reasonable. When I bought my train ticket for Aswan (55EP), they gave me a deal on a hotel for 95EP total, meaning I was essentially paying 25EP for an Aswan hotel that turned out to very nice and worth twice as much.
The Dahab Hotel is within easy walking distance of the Egyptian museum, the metro stop and bus stop for the Giza Pyramids, several very cheap takeaway stands, and several cheap internet cafes. The only flaw is the 7th floor location and the lift—it's quite unstable. I got stuck in between floors and had to climb out, covered in floor dirt and sweat, I still had to walk three more floors to the top. It was finally fixed late afternoon the next day, but later broke again! But don't rule it out—the breezes are refreshing and the vibe fantastic.
Oh, and about those toilet-showers—the ones right next to the dorm rooms are the tightest I saw throughout the Middle East, with showerheads literally above the gaping toilet bowl. For some reason, everyone complained about these without discovering, as I had my first day, that there are showers down the hall (left after you leave the reception area) in totally normal stalls without toilets, plenty of space.