1 · POSITION
The Oberoi Melouk and The Oberoi Malekat are two sister dahabeyas, sailing boats, built for the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. The house states that each carries up to fourteen guests in seven cabins and suites. The announcement of January 2025 presented them as reviving the elegance of the regal dahabeyas of the 1920s, with itineraries guided by Egyptologists and butler service in every room. The register holds the pair under a single code. [2, 3]
2 · SEVEN ROOMS ON EACH BOAT
Each boat holds two suites and five cabins. The house gives the suites as 42.5 or 47 square metres and the cabins as 26.8 square metres, every one of them facing the Nile. A butler is available around the clock. Bathrooms are described as made from natural materials with views over the water, cabin interiors as wooden with inlaid work, and each room carries high-speed internet; one category is listed as accessible, subject to availability at booking. [1]
3 · THE TOP DECK AND THE KITCHEN
The house lists an Oberoi Spa and a temperature-controlled plunge pool on the top deck. Afar, reporting in February 2025, described a main restaurant with picture windows and an à la carte menu of international and regional cooking, an interactive kitchen in which guests take cooking classes, a pool bar, indoor and outdoor lounges and a small library. The spa was given as holding steam and sauna facilities and a treatment room. [2, 4]
4 · A DATE THAT MOVED
The announcement of 16 January 2025 scheduled the boats for October 2025. Afar reported on 28 February 2025 that both were set to debut in late 2025, on four- or six-night sailings between Luxor and Aswan. The group’s own upcoming-hotels page now gives them as sailing from late 2026 and continues to list them among properties not yet open. The cabin page is live and written in the present tense, but carries no date. [1, 2, 3, 4]
5 · ⚑ CANDOUR
⚑ The register’s note of seven cabins each and an October 2025 debut is the house’s claim of January 2025; the house now publishes late 2026 instead. Nothing fetched confirms that either boat has entered service, and this entry must not be read as saying that they have. Karim Mekhtigian is named as designer by the announcement and by Afar, not by any Oberoi page fetched. The group’s own web address spells the second boat Malaket. [1–4]
Sources & Further Reading
Sources checked 12 October 2026.